Real Leaders Don't Boss (26 page)

Real leaders don't play favorites among their staff. Instead, they consciously create a more level playing field for their staff so that all ideas are evaluated on their merits and objective job appraisal trumps cronyism.

Leadership legacies take on many forms—from the small, thoughtful acts to major,
marketplace-shifting strategies. What is universal, however, is that a real leader leaves his or her legacy as a model of behavior for those who follow.

Tough times are not a license to squeeze employees or to ignore their accomplishments. In rough economic times, it's more important than ever to recognize that your employees are willing to work harder, not only to maintain the status quo, but also to propel the company forward. Leaders should honor and celebrate their employees.

Real leaders know when it's time to move on or out: they leave “at the top of their game” unlike house-guests who overstay their welcome.

 Chapter 6 
Real Leaders Know When to Shut Up and Get Out of the Way

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

—Theodore Roosevelt

Real leaders are not egomaniacs who constantly demand center stage, take all the credit, and expect the kudos. Instead, they know when to step aside and watch others be recognized for the success they have achieved. They are willing to allow others to achieve success, and their own success follows. A goal real leaders set for themselves is to build a pervasive culture of “leaders for tomorrow” in their organizations. One of my favorite iterations is, “It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.”

In
Chapter 1
, you read President Obama's thoughts on leadership and the importance of setting the stage, then stepping aside. Real leaders set the stage, and know when to allow those they lead to step to the front. They know how and when to get out of the way. This important leadership practice helps infuse a greater sense of shared ownership and growth in workers and
enables the organization to be much more responsive to market challenges. Complacency is replaced with dispatch, autocratic behavior is exchanged for entrepreneurialism, and convention is supplanted by innovation. The result is an organization that is better positioned to react quickly and stay well ahead of the competition, while team members take joy in their work, boosting bottom lines in the process.

Allan Smith at the University of Michigan is a brilliant example of a leader who lays the foundation and then moves out of the way to watch his organization's successes mount. Smith enhanced and improved on the university's decentralized system of operations by delegating substantial autonomy to the deans of the schools and colleges, as well as to the directors of the research institutes. That approach, still in effect today, helped foster ownership among all units of the university. As I mentioned in the last chapter, ownership tends to promote better, more productive performance.

That's not the norm, however, in major corporations, public or private. Typically, leaders assume command, then take their place front and center and above everyone. They are positioned to take the glory or the fall, depending on the success or failure of an operation. But as often happens, should a problem occur, instead of taking the fall, the bosses out in front point their fingers at someone else, which further compounds disappointment and disillusionment among employees and staff. Front and center is
not
always the best location if a leader hopes to get the most from employees and others who follow.

The best position for a real leader—the role that has the greatest chance of success—is as the facilitator. This means you as a real leader train, teach, support, and guide others, then move out of the way to allow them to succeed. The leader's real
job is to prepare his or her troops for the task or goal and then stand back to allow those troops—employees or whomever—to do their jobs, accomplish the defined goals,
and
take the credit (or, at the least, move forward with them arm in arm). To further ensure success, a leader knows how to rally his or her troops so that they will understand and support the plan of action, participate in the vision, and respect the process. Followers must understand the leader's vision, values, character, and beliefs; they must have faith in their leader's commitment and the achievability of his or her goals.

Few people like change; it is especially difficult to implement changes in a large organization. But as a leader, you can get the wheels of change moving with your courage, resolve, patience, and interpersonal skills. Real leaders understand the importance of initiating changes that will be lasting. They know how to fully and properly prepare employees and staff for change, and how and when to step aside so employees can embrace and take ownership of it. A leader does all this while maintaining a leadership role.

For real and aspiring leaders, the first step in the process is to recognize the importance of preparing your team for changes that lie ahead. Then with the right tools and training, your team—and you—will succeed. Often companies without real leadership today fail to see beyond the near term and aren't willing to invest the time or money on the front end in preparation and training, and consequently lose out on the back end and bottom line. Employees often end up disgruntled, unhappy, and unproductive, because they haven't been given the proper preparation or environment in which they could do their jobs. Despite today's economy and tight job market, some
discontented employees may even quit, leaving a company with the headache, hassle, and cost of having to replace them.

Retired Adm. Thompson is an exceptional facilitator who is able to smoothly effect change. He has infectious enthusiasm about whatever he does. He is modest, kind, and humble, yet also determined, deceptively sharp, well-connected, and highly respected for his professionalism, ethics, and knowledge. Both in his military career and after his retirement as president of the U.S. Navy Memorial, Adm. Thompson exemplified the role of a real leader.