Defining excellence in leadership? The six most important words for a leader
When it comes to defining excellence in leadership, who better to turn for passionate yet pithy advice than Tom Peters: “The definition of leadership excellence is the person who is completely there for you.” Peters asks you to imagine waiting six months for that meeting with Mr./Mrs. Big. You finally walk into the room for the five minutes you’ve been given, and… he/she looks at you but does not see you.
So how do you begin to apply Peters’ definition? He quotes Dee Hock, the founder of Visa, who proposed a short “Ph.D” in Leadership as follows:
“Make a list of all the things that were done to you that you hated. Don’t do them to others. Never.
Make another list of the things that were done to you and that you loved. Do them to others. Always.
A leader who is “fully available to you” will say very different things than one who is not. UK management thinker and writer John Adair has some good suggestions on the importance of choosing the right words. Managers who want to be leaders would do well to consider:
The 6 most important words… “I admitted I made a mistake.”
The 5 most important words………. “I’m proud of you.”
The 4 most important words… “What is your opinion?”
The 3 most important words… “Yes please”.
The 2 most important words… “Thank you.”
The 1 most important word… “We”.
The least important word……. “I”.
Simple words to say? Well maybe, but that’s easier said than done! How often do you hear leaders use them? As a leader, how often do you use them? As Stephen Covey says, “You can’t talk your way out of something you were good at.”
Think of these words and, as Peters says, you will be 99% there. Who knows… put them into practice, cultivate the right habits, and you just might become a great leader. Defining leadership excellence may be simple, but becoming an excellent leader is another matter. As Aristotle noted:
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit”.
As clever as modern gurus are, we must not ignore the shining examples of leadership excellence throughout history.
Warren Bennis, a leading thinker on leadership, tells an old story about the difference between the two 19th century British political leaders, William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. It was said that when you dined with Gladstone, you left feeling that he was the wittiest, most brilliant, most charming person in the world. But when you dined with Disraeli, you left feeling that you were the wittiest, most brilliant, most charming person in the world.
There are no prizes for guessing which of these Peters and Bennis would use to define leadership excellence.
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