Benjamin R. Lueck
The Good, the Bad, and the Effective
There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” leadership. But we’ve all heard that contrast since we were kids. Parents, peers, and authority figures in our life communicated their personal views on the world, connecting certain actions with being “good”, and others with being “bad”. These terms are rooted in moral relativism, and provide a poor rubric to measure leaders against. What some may view as good actions by a leader, others may shrug and dismiss as permissible, and still others may aggressively protest and speak out against as bad.
So what is a more useful measurement of leadership?
Leadership is judged as either effective or ineffective. From a 30,000-foot view, effective leaders produce desired results, and ineffective leaders don’t (or can’t) deliver. After more than two decades of study into leadership, my favorite definition is still the one provided by the US Army. In their doctrine manual Army Leadership and the Profession, “leadership is the activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” (HQDA, 2019)
There are five core functions of effective leadership, and I will briefly touch on each one in each of the following sections. Be sure to read to the end, because I reveal the #1 thing that both causes organizations to fail to hit their goals, and is the top thing cited by team members as the reason they quit their jobs to go work somewhere else. PLUS, there is a bonus activity I’ll share with you that is guaranteed to empower you to be a more effective leader.
Function #1: Communicate the Vision
The biggest obstacle to turning ideas into actions is a language barrier. As a leader, what you say and how you say it makes all the difference. You must clearly define for yourself and then articulate to your team two important things that I call: your Core 4 and Dynamic Duo. The Core 4 is your vision, mission, purpose, and values; the Dynamic Duo is your leader’s intent and desired end state. I’ll briefly explain the rest of these in a minute, but for now let’s focus on Vision.
Before I commissioned as an officer in the Army, I had an opportunity to talk with former Army Chief of Staff, General Raymond Odierno (pictured) about leading change in an organization. During our discussion, he confirmed that what I believed was true: effective leadership starts with clearly communicating a vision of the future.
Vision is the BHAG (the Big Hairy Audacious Goal that Jim Collins talks about). It’s a point on the horizon that an effective leader points out and says, “That’s where we’re going!” It’s the ideal future for the company that your team is working toward paired with the WHY your brand exists in the first place.
The WHY is the deeply personal reason that your company does everything it does. It’s something that people will resonate with on an emotional level. Simon Sinek argues the foundational importance of understanding your WHY and communicating it to your market in his book Start With Why and the TED Talk of the same name that has been viewed more than 72 million times across multiple platforms.
Function #2: Provide Direction
In an article republished by Harvard Business Review (HBR), John Kotter argues that “since the function of leadership is to produce change, setting the direction of that change is fundamental to leadership.” (Kotter, 2001) People resist change because it triggers the survival-based, instinctive reaction of “Will I be enough in this new environment?” Strong enough, smart enough, creative enough, empathetic enough, innovative enough… and the list goes on and on, producing a deeply-rooted, emotional subconscious response to change.
Effective leaders inspire confidence and commit to providing all necessary support to ensure that their team is enough for whatever they will face on the way to that Vision point on the horizon. This is done by clearly articulating the other three elements of your Core 4: the Mission, Purpose, and Values of the organization.
The Mission is the HOW you’re achieving the Vision. It’s the path toward the horizon you choose to start on. It’s the navigation route your GPS plots for you while you’re still sitting in the driveway – you know the path you take may change en route, but you know where you’re ultimately headed.
Purpose is WHAT you have to become to complete your Mission. This is a process. It is a transformative journey that your company is on to become and embody the fulfillment of the mission and vision. What does this mean? Here’s a personal anecdote to illustrate it.
Let’s say your vision is to inspire the next generation of athletes to pursue their dreams regardless of what bullies and naysayers tell them. And in pursuit of this vision, you’re on a mission to play on a champion hockey team that wins the Stanley Cup. Then your Purpose is to become the kind of hockey player that would play on a top team that has an opportunity to compete for a shot at the championship.
It’s the same in business. Regardless of your Vision and Mission, you, your team, and ultimately your company will have to become the kind of brand that is capable of completing the Mission in pursuit of the Vision.
Values define WHO you are, both as a leader and as an organization. Imagine your company is a grand architectural masterpiece, a skyscraper set to dominate the skyline. Your vision is the architect’s dream, the breathtaking design that inspired it all. The values of your organization are the list of building code approved materials that can be used while your team is hard at work, bringing the architect’s vision to life. Anytime the opportunity arises to use something else, it’s easily identified as a building material that isn’t aligned with the architect’s vision, and the mission set defined by the blueprints. It makes it easy to say, “We don’t do that here.”
Function #3: Define Goals
Effective leaders will simplify the complex, and bring clarity to the confusion and ambiguity to allow managers to execute with focus and confidence. This is accomplished by clearly communicating the Leader’s Intent and desired End State.
When I was in the Army, we regularly qualified with our M4 rifles as part of the requirements to stay deployable. On the range, 40 targets would pop up 1 or 2 at a time in varying ranges from 25 meters out to 300 meters (that’s 3 football fields away for reference).
The goal was always to hit 40 out of 40 targets and qualify as an expert marksman. But we were trained to never focus on the 40 targets that were coming in the future – we only focused on applying the fundamentals of marksmanship to the target that popped up immediately in front of us.
By focusing our skill and activity on that target, we got one step closer to being an expert. Repeat that 40 times, and you’re there – without having to stress about all 40 of the steps to accomplish the vision. All you have to do is identify the next target.
That’s what a Leader’s Intent is. It clearly articulates the next target your team is focused on in pursuit of the Vision and Mission. It keeps the main thing, the main thing, so you and your team don’t get distracted by shiny objects and the pull of all the things “you could do”.
The End State is simply a set of constraints, parameters, left and right limits, whatever you want to call them. They are the explicitly, clearly defined conditions for success, and they represent the state or functional condition the company is in once the Intent is achieved and a new Intent gives the team its next goal – the next checkpoint on the way to the Vision.
As an effective leader, with one eye on the horizon, you want your team to be capable of running from checkpoint to checkpoint successfully, so you must define the capabilities that they still have coming out of each segment of the journey.
Function #4: Maintain Motivation
In his HBR article, John Kotter states that “motivation and inspiration energize people, not by pushing them in the right direction as control mechanisms do but by satisfying basic human needs for achievement, a sense of belonging, recognition, self-esteem, a feeling of control over one’s life, and the ability to live up to one’s ideals.” (Kotter, 2001)
Kotter is alluding to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In the image above (sourced from my most recent book, The Antidote), we see how these connect to the six basic human needs that Tony Robbins teaches about. Maintaining motivation to realize the Vision of the organization hinges on two key things: shared culture and delegated empowerment.
Building a positive team culture is essential for creating a supportive and productive work environment. Culture refers to both the way your organization thinks about the things that need to get done, as well as the way things are actually done in your organization. For a positive culture to exist, team members must have a positive outlook on their work and the company.
Here are some ways to cultivate a positive team culture:
Celebrate positive behavior – Recognize and reward team members who align with the company’s vision and values through positive reinforcement, incentives and awards.
Encourage positivity – At meetings, have team members acknowledge others who embody the company’s values. You can amplify this by budgeting funds for tangible items of recognition or quarterly “awards presentation ceremonies”.
Reading group – Set up a book club where team members can discuss books on business, growth mindset, emotional intelligence and team success.
Protect the team environment – Get rid of team members who have negative attitudes or values that are misaligned with the company’s core values and refuse to align.
As a leader, it’s your responsibility to create an environment that nurtures growth and positivity. By implementing these practices, you can build a team culture that supports and celebrates success.
If you have a team and you’re still the only one creating a plan to achieve the vision, you’re not a leader – you’re a dictator.
Effective leaders delegate empowerment as deeply into their organization as possible. Empowerment isn’t just about delegating tasks; it’s about making your team members feel they have control over their work and that their contributions matter. In other words, delegating decision-making authority and the accountability that goes with it. It involves providing the resources, authority, opportunity, and motivation to achieve results.
Empowered teams show improved problem-solving skills and are less likely to approach you for every small issue. So, invest time in your team members. Understand their strengths and opportunities for growth. Provide them with relevant training and resources. Set clear expectations but give them autonomy to achieve the tasks in their own way. This builds confidence, nurtures talent, and cultivates a proactive approach.
Function #5: Improve the Organization
Is the organization better today than it was the day you assumed your leadership role? Is it better than it was yesterday? Every organism either thrives or dies in direct response to its environment. Effective leaders will proactively facilitate life-giving, growth environments for their organization to thrive in. Ineffective leaders allow de facto culture and toxic elements to creep in, or worse – actively engage in behavior that encourages them.
Something I’ve been talking about for years is that businesses, after all, aren’t B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumer), but rather human-to-human. This is part of my “People First” perspective on leadership. At the end of the day, effective leaders are humans who will connect with other humans and collaboratively build an environment and organization that proactively grows, improves, and achieves a vision together.
Bonus for You
If you read through this entire article, I appreciate the time you’ve invested into yourself and hope you’ve extracted at least one nugget of value from what I’ve shared. If you skipped to the end… you’re a rebel, and I like you – the world needs innovators and free spirits like you.
So, what’s the #1 thing that both causes organizations to fail to hit their goals, and is the top thing cited by team members as the reason they quit their jobs to go work somewhere else? It’s communication issues – lack of communication, miscommunication, and ineffective communication.
If you as a leader can get this one thing right, then your company will start seeing increases in revenue, profitability, team member buy-in, and motivation. You’ll also start noticing improvements in morale and a reduction of stress, anxiety, and personnel churn. It’s not a magic silver bullet, but it is a major thing that can get the ball rolling toward creating the kind of environment at work that people are excited about and look forward to being a part of.
For years, I’ve been teaching something called the POISE Communication Method. Here’s how it works:
P = “Present”
Present your information to your team as clearly and concisely as possible. Take time before you ever approach your team members to get very clear about the intent behind what you’re going to say. Then plan out how to say it in the fewest words possible.
O = “Observe”
Have you team members explain back to you in their own words what they think you were saying and what the main takeaway points are. Observe how they are communicating it back to you: verbal, nonverbal, and body language.
I = “Identify”
As you’ve been paying attention to your team members, identify what parts of what you originally said have a different meaning for your team than what you originally intended. Also, identify the gaps and things that fell through the cracks that they don’t even remember or didn’t catch the first time around.
S = “State”
From what you’ve identified as areas where your understanding and your team’s understanding don’t line up, state that portion of information in a new way that you believe will line up with your team’s best way of synthesizing information.
E = “Ensure”
Never walk away from a conversation without ensuring that the other person’s understanding of the meaning behind the words you said is the same understanding that you have.
This POISE communication method is iterative, meaning that sometimes you have to go through the steps a few times to finally get to that sweet spot where you and your team are on the same sheet of music.
Remember: Everyone deserves exceptional leadership, and I believe that you can be that leader.
Benjamin R. Lueck
Nashville, Tennessee, USA