Jerry Toomer is an Executive Partner in the College of Business Administration at Butler University where he teaches in the areas of organizational behavior, leadership and Human Resources He also serves as a senior consultant with both Leadership Ventures and YourEncore and heads his own consulting and coaching practice, serving both business and nonprofit sectors. His 25 year career in the business sector included senior Human Resource positions for Dow AgroSciences and Dow Chemical in Hong Kong, Indiana and Michigan.
Tom D’Amico is President of Operational Advisers, LLC, an operations and manufacturing consulting firm specializing in operations improvement, lean manufacturing, cost reduction, and acquisition due diligence for manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses. Tom’s career has been focused on operations leadership and improvement in consumer and industrial products companies. Prior to his current role, Tom was Senior Vice President of Global Operations for Aearo Technologies (A 3M Company).
Each of our unique approaches to leadership is based on who we are as a person: where we have lived, who has influenced us most profoundly, what we have experienced in our life that has shaped both our philosophy of leadership and our behavior as leaders. Each journey has taken a distinct path.
In our experience as leaders, teachers and coaches in a wide range of business and nonprofit organizations the authors believe that clearly understanding our personal leadership journey and its key influences improves our ability to lead effectively, with energy, passion and focus. Our challenge to you in this article is to (re)consider how you think, feel, and behave as a leader…to think deeply about your life experiences and how they have shaped your approach to leading… and to write this down in a succinct Statement of Leadership.
<Margin: Our challenge to you in this article is to (re)consider how you think, feel, and behave as a leader…to think deeply about your life experiences and how they have shaped your approach to leading… and to write this down in a succinct Statement of Leadership.>
As you begin to write your Statement of Leadership, a process of personal discovery can be adopted in which you review three primary areas of your leadership development, and ask yourself a series of discovery questions from these perspectives. Depending on your personal style and approach, you may choose to start at any one of the three perspectives. As you write your Statement of Leadership you may find that you tend to emphasize one perspective over another. We do believe that whichever you start with, the process is iterative and that you will want to move back and forth between each of the three perspectives as you reflect on your unique Statement.
- Cognitive Discovery (Mind-Set). How do you think about leadership or what is your mind-set relative to leadership? What leadership models have you been most influenced by… and on which do you base your approach? Review the leadership or other books that you have read which influenced your style. Are there public leaders, historical figures, friends, or acquaintances that you admire, have researched, or emulate? Has a current or former leader you have worked for influenced your leadership style?
- Emotional Discovery (Heart-Set). Reflect on your own feelings as a leader and how your leadership style and philosophy is impacted by your heart. What are your basic values? Are you passionate about leading, and leading well? What is your personality style? For example, have you taken personality or leadership style assessments, e.g. the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or Emotional Intelligence instruments? How do you relate with people in general? Do you lean toward being extroverted or introverted? Are you a patient listener? Do you tend to focus first on people or tasks? Have you had life experiences with authority figures that have emotionally shaped who you are and how you lead?
- Behavioral Discovery (Skill-Set). What actions do you take as a leader based on the skill-set that you have developed over your career? If you recorded yourself during a typical day as a leader and reviewed your comments and actions, what would you see? What are the visible expressions of your beliefs about leadership (cognitive underpinnings) and your feelings about leading (emotional influencers)?
<Margin: There are three pillars of discovery that provide the foundation for how we lead: how we think (mind-set); how we feel (heart-set); and how we behave (skill-set).>
Another question is important before you embark on writing your Statement of Leadership: Are you writing the Statement for the leader you are now or the leader you want to be? This sounds rather straight forward, but if a clear determination is not made first, you may get confused in terms of your perspective. If you have never written a Statement before, or your leadership style is in transition, it may be helpful for you to write two Statements that reflect both your current and future styles.
We suggest that you first draft a Statement which reflects your current leadership style, even though it may not reflect the leader that you strive to be. This will serve as a good baseline. After further reflection, reading, discussion and learning you can then draft a Statement for the leader you want to be. (Note: This will help you avoid the pitfall of writing a Statement of Leadership that you believe and call your current style, but it is actually of the leader you want to be.) We find that there is value in students / leaders reviewing their draft Statements with each other as a method of developing their leadership skills and coaching each other during the learning process. Full transparency during these discussions facilitates growth and development.
<Margin: Like musicians and athletes, you must devote yourself to a lifetime of realizing your potential. From HBR, Be a Better Leader, p 16>
<Margin: The best way to predict the future is to create it. Peter Drucker>
Cognitive Discovery (Mind-Set) Questions
How do you think as a leader?
Answering this question forms an important pillar of your Statement of Leadership. For many of you this will be the first and most important place to start. During your career you have likely read many different books and articles on leadership and management. Some of these may have had a strong influence on your leadership style while others a more subtle influence, and still others no impact at all.
You may want to do a quick review. Here’s how…. physically gather up all those books or articles mentioned above – even the ones that made no impact. Lay them out on a desk or large table and divide them into the three categories of impact… strong, subtle, and no impact. (If you cannot locate the book per se, label an index card and lay it out to represent the book or its perspective). Sort the strong and subtle impact piles and note the book name / topic and impressions that come to mind on how this book influenced your leadership style. What are the key concepts or themes that stand out to you?
Do the same with the no impact books (and the books that you perhaps disagree with), but list your impressions of why they had no impact…or why you did not like or embrace the concepts. After you complete the review of these books or articles take some time and review your notes, adding additional thoughts or examples you can think of where you may have applied models of concepts. Use these notes to identify characteristics of your leadership style that make you the leader you are, and want to be included in your Statement of Leadership.
<Margin: When the 75 members of Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Advisory Council were asked to recommend the most important capability for leaders to develop, their answer was nearly unanimous: self-awareness.>
Review Leadership Models – Reviewing existing leadership models and then assessing what parts of these models you may recognize in yourself can be very helpful in writing your Statement. We will give you a jump start in this process. Listed below are four models and brief descriptions that have appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Do you recognize yourself in these models?
- Leadership That Gets Results by Daniel Goleman. In this article Goleman identifies six basic leadership styles. He states that each derives from different emotional intelligence competencies, works best in particular situations, and affects the organizational climate in different ways. These styles include:
- Coercive – Demands immediate compliance; “Do what I tell you”
- Authoritative – Mobilizes people toward a vision; “Come with me”
- Affiliative – Creates harmony and builds emotional bonds; “People come first”
- Democratic – Forges consensus through participation; “What do you think”
- Pacesetting – Sets high standards for performance; “Do as I do now”
- Coaching – Develops people for the future; “Try this”
- Discovering Your Authentic Leadership by Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer. This article relates that you will become the leader you are based largely on your life story and experiences. The article lists eight important questions to think about the basis for your leadership development and the path you need to follow to become an authentic leader.
- Which people and experiences in your early life had the greatest impact on you?
- What tools do you use to become self-aware?
- What are your most deeply held values?
- What motivates you extrinsically?
- What kind of support team do you have?
- Is your life integrated?
- What does being authentic mean in your life?
- What steps can you take today, tomorrow, and over the next year to develop your authentic leadership?
- Seven Transformations of Leadership by David Rooke and William R. Torbert. In this article the authors put forth the idea that great leaders are differentiated not by their personality or philosophy but by their action logic – how they interpret their own and others’ behavior and how they maintain power or protect against threats. Do you recognize yourself within the seven types of action logics which have characteristics, strengths and weaknesses? These include:
- Opportunist – Wins any way possible, self-oriented, manipulative might makes right. Good in emergencies and in sales opportunities.
- Diplomat – Avoids conflict, wants to belong, obeys group norms, and doesn’t rock the boat. Good as supportive glue within an office; helps bring people together.
- Expert – Rules by logic and expertise, uses hard data to gain consensus and buy-in. Good as an individual contributor.
- Achiever – Meets strategic goals, promotes teamwork, juggles managerial duties and responds to market demands to achieve goals. Well suited to managerial roles; action and goal oriented.
- Individualist – Operates in unconventional ways and ignores rules he/she regards as irrelevant. Effective in venture and consulting roles.
- Strategist– Generates organizational and personal change, highly collaborative, weaves visions with pragmatic, timely initiatives, challenges existing assumptions. Effective as a transformational leader.
- Alchemist – Generates social transformations, integrates material, spiritual and societal transformation. Good at leading society-wide transformations.
- Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve by Jim Collins. This article builds on the book by the author, “Good to Great.” It describes a type of leader “The Level 5 Leader,” that is a necessary requirement for transforming an organization from good to great. There are four levels under the 5th level which describe different people with different types of capabilities. Do you recognize yourself in any of these levels?
- Level 1 – Highly Capable Individual – Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits.
- Level 2 – Contributing Team Members – Contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting.
- Level 3 – Competent Manager – Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
- Level 4 – Effective Leader – Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards.
- Level 5 – Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.
<Margin: Follow effective action with quiet reflection; from the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. Peter Drucker>
Emotional Discovery (Heart-Set) Questions
One of the important prerequisites of being the best leader you can be is to understand your own emotions, your most deeply held values, and ultimately, how you feel about being a leader.
As part of your Statement of Leadership you should be able to describe the key influencers of your values and your emotions. What are our most dearly held values…and how were these formed? What positive or negative experiences in our past relationships highly influence how we relate to others in our leadership role? How have family, religion, friends shaped our feelings about certain types of people? Are we patient or impatient? Do we relish authority or feel that it is a negative aspect of being a leader? Are there certain people that we just don’t care for and that we have difficulty relating to, needless to say leading effectively and supportively? How do we feel about forming close personal relationships with others at work…what are the pros and cons of doing this?
One model that may be helpful for you was developed by Daniel Goleman. He put forth the idea of emotional intelligence in his 1995 book by that name. He has also written several articles on the topic, including 1998 and 2008 articles in the Harvard Business Review. His research at many large global companies found that truly effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self awareness, self regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. Understanding this model and assessing your development in these areas may help you write your Statement. We suggest that you examine your self-perspectives in these areas:
- Self Awareness – Someone who is highly self-aware knows where he is headed and why. This is the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions, and drives, as well as, their effect on others. It shows itself as candor and an ability to assess oneself realistically. People with high self-awareness are able to speak accurately and openly about their emotions and the impact they have on their work.
Also, one example of tools that can assist you with understanding your self-awareness is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This indicator will identify your style type using four categories.
- What is your natural orientation? Do you focus on people first, or things / ideas first? Do you lean toward being Introverted or Extraverted?
- How do you perceive and understand the world? Sensing or Intuitive?
- How do you form judgments and make choices? Thinking or Feeling?
- What is your action orientation towards the outside world? Judging or Perceiving?
Do you understand the important underlying personality characteristics that make you the person you are?
- Self-Regulation – People that self-regulate can control their emotions and find techniques to channel them in useful ways. This is the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods – the propensity to suspend judgment and think before acting. Leaders that are in control of their feelings and impulses are able to create an environment of trust and fairness. In such an environment, infighting and politics are reduced, the ability to deal with change is enhanced, and productivity is high. Furthermore, self-regulation has a trickledown effect of mood stability. Are you in control of your emotions?
- Motivation – Effective leaders are driven to achieve beyond expectations. These leaders are motivated by a deeply embedded desire to achieve for the sake of achievement. They have a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. Motivation to achieve translates into strong leadership. If you set the performance bar high for yourself, you will do the same for the organization when you are in a position to do so. Are you motivated to achieve?
- Empathy – Leaders that demonstrate this ability are able to thoughtfully consider the feelings of others, in the process of making intelligent decisions. This is the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and a skill to treat people according to their emotional reactions. Do you take the feelings of others into consideration when interacting with others and when you make decisions?
- Social Skill – Leaders that are socially skilled exhibit friendliness with a purpose; moving people in the direction they desire. They are proficient in managing relationships, building networks, have the ability to find common ground, and building rapport. Are you adept at managing teams and diverse groups?
Another way to learn about yourself and the way you relate to others is through the performance feedback you have been given. If you have had several years of assessments, review them and make note of the points that are significant and that describe your style: incorporate these in your Statement of Leadership where it make sense. You might also have discussions with your spouse or significant other, and friends: ask them for their candid, specific feedback on your personal and leadership characteristics.
Also, how have your religious or faith – based experiences influenced your values and feelings about authority and leadership? Reflect on these aspects of your beliefs; assess and note the overarching impacts on you as a leader.
Is your set of business ethics clear to you? Many or most organizations now provide a set of ethics and/or values that employees are asked to follow. This may include training classes and case study discussions that stretch our thinking about what is right and wrong. In this regard, you are both a leader and an employee in the organization: you are asked to follow the ethical guidelines (some of these are legal as well) and also to play a role in enforcing these with employees. Do these fit with your personal values and ethics?
How about your ego? You have perhaps achieved a position of influence as a leader that enables you to implement your new ideas or to be on top of a team or an organization. Many of us would not strive to be in leadership roles unless we felt some level of personal satisfaction and achievement that feeds our sense of self in a positive manner. Is that ego…or power? Well, yes it is ego to some extent and that is ok if used appropriately. Acknowledge your personal ambitions and feelings of satisfaction in your achievements. Celebrate them and understand how they impact you as a leader. We suggest that you then add in a dose of humility and the realization that the myth of authority as a leader is a concept that is alive and well! The largest measure of our success as leaders will be achieved in partnership with others, and through others, not by telling them what to do from a position of authority.
<Margin: The largest measure of our success as leaders will be achieved in partnership with others, and through others, not by telling them what to do from a position of authority.>
What about being alone at the top? That is a well-worn phrase that can hold a grain of truth as it can be lonely at times. Are you emotionally equipped to move from being a team member to holding a position that must from time to time necessitate you separating yourself from the team? Establishing personal boundaries at work can be tricky: how do you manage this as a leader? How do you feel about providing negative performance feedback to an employee? Can you terminate someone if the situation demands it? Do you have a support system in place that can assist you in navigating tough decisions that may test your emotional resilience and challenge your values?
Behavioral Discovery (Skill-Set) Questions
How we behave is the expression of our beliefs, values and emotions. How we behave as leaders is the extension of our personal behavior into the leadership role.
This is perhaps the easy part of writing your Statement because it is the easiest to observe. As we suggested in the opening comments, if you recorded your behavior as a leader, with all of its verbal and non-verbal components, what would we see?
Realizing that this is likely not going to happen, you do, however, have a ready treasure-trove of feedback that is available from your boss, peers, people on the team that you lead….as well as from friends and family. Some of this may come through 360 degree feedback. Fully understanding this input from others by discussing it with a trusted advisor (which may be your boss) can add to its value. If you do not have formal 360 degree feedback, then seek input on your own by asking trusted bosses, peers or employees for honest and perhaps anonymous input.
What do you do those others really like about what you do as a leader/manager? How can you do more of this?!
I love it when you recognize me personally (but privately) for work well done…can you do more of this? Even though you may think it is over-done, it is really motivating to me and I learn something from these discussions!
What do you do that is not very effective, or that may annoy others?
You have a tendency to share your ideas first in our meetings rather than waiting for others. That tends to limit our discussions and leaves the rest of us feeling like we cannot bring up our own ideas, especially if they are not consistent with yours. Please be a bit more patient in our meetings and less quick to talk.
Are there new leadership behaviors that you need to incorporate into your repertoire?
As members of this team we are sometimes confused about our priorities and our roles. You can help us clarify this. We do not want to be told what to do, but we would like to initiate a process by which we can review our key goals each month, and then determine who is responsible for delivering what, by when. Could you build this into our team discussions and help us sort this out?
So, our behavior visibly represents who we are as a leader: it is the window into our selves. Our employees or our peers cannot accurately guess what we are thinking or how we are feeling…nor should they be expected to do so.
But, as authentic leaders who have a good sense of self-understanding, our behavior is the congruent, visible expression of what we believe and how we feel…the expression of our cognition, our emotions and our values. Understanding why we behave the way we do, by understanding our cognitive beliefs about leadership and our feelings/emotions about being a leader serves to increase the likelihood that we will be congruent and consistent as leaders…and highly effective in relating to others!
<Margin: Know thyself>
A Double-Check as to Key Influences.
We have mentioned earlier in this article that understanding the key people who have been influences on your life, and your leadership approach, is key to self-awareness. These powerful influencers may cut across all three areas of your leadership approach: your mind-set, heart-set and skill-set. Take another look at these individuals.
You may model various parts of your life, as well as your leadership style, on different people you have studied, known, worked for, or on public figures. Do you have any authority figures that you emulate? To assist you in writing your Statement of Leadership, develop several lists of people that have been key influences. This list may include your family members, friends, teachers, professors, religious leaders, political leaders, your former and current leaders, peers, subordinates, and of course, any current or historical world figures. Once you make the list, or lists, make notes for each of the authority figures that describe what you like or admire about that person, what aspect you currently emulate and what you might seek to emulate in the future. Put these comments or characteristics up against your notes relative to all three pillars of your leadership approach (Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral) and see if any additional ideas come to the forefront.
Writing Your Statement(s) of Leadership
You can use several different approaches to writing your Statement of Leadership. Some people prefer to use examples to describe their leadership style, while others tell their personal story, or others develop an overarching theme and cite supporting material, quotes or pictures. No matter how you choose write it, make it authentic and true to your current leadership style. As mentioned previously, once you write the current Statement, you can then reflect on changes you would like to make and write your Statement for the leader you want to be.
Note: The gap between who you are now as a leader and who you are striving to be can be the basis for your development plan. Identify the key areas which you wish to address in your development and how you plan to make the changes needed to become a great leader. This is an opportunity for you to work with a trusted peer, boss, or coach to more formally lay out this plan.
Finally, if possible we recommend that you mutually review your Statements of Leadership (current and desired) with peers in a group. Challenge each other constructively; learn from each others’ approaches; share your ideas openly about how each of you might add elements to your Statements; incorporate new ideas and return to share them again, whether next week, or next year! Your Statement becomes a work in progress: we are all lifelong students. At the Butler University College of Business Administration we offer this opportunity via an advanced leadership seminar, Perspectives on Leadership.
There is no time like the present to get started on becoming the leader you want to be!
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References Used
- Daniel Goleman; Leadership That Gets Results; Harvard Business Review – On Point; March-April, 2000
- Daniel Goleman; What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review – On Point; December, 2008
- Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, Diana Mayer; Discovering Your Authentic Leadership; Harvard Business Review – On Point; December, 2008
- David Rooke, William R. Torbert; Seven Transformations of Leadership; Harvard Business Review – On Point; December, 2008
- Jim Collins; Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve; Harvard Business Review – On Point; December, 2008
- Peter Drucker; The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management; Harper Collins Publishing, 2003