Real Leaders Don't Boss (36 page)

Vision, a highly developed strategic orientation, the courage of conviction, and a devotion to country and public service.
Retired four-star Gen. Anthony C. “Tony” Zinni is a true visionary who never stops serving others. The former Marine now is chairman of the board of directors of BAE Systems, Inc., an international multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, as well as an in-demand motivational and leadership speaker. His nearly 40-year, highly decorated military career included a tour as commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command
at the Pentagon. Since retiring, his endeavors have included serving as U.S. Peace Envoy to the Middle East and Special Envoy to the Henri Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Indonesia, Philippines, and Sudan peace effort).

All of us, leaders included, learn from experiences, trial and error, leadership simulations, field testing, “live fire,” and mentorship. It all begins with a positive attitude—yours as well as that of your leaders and mentors.

David Brandon shares this lasting advice that served him well throughout his illustrious career:

The best lesson in character and integrity was taught to me by my father when I received my first promotion early in my career. I was taking over a unit that had several people who were going to be working for me that were old enough to be my father and much more experienced in the business than I was at the time. I asked him (my father) for his advice, and he replied, “Well Dave, I have never been in the situation you now find yourself, but if I were you, I would find out how people want to be treated, and treat them that way.” Very good advice from a very wise man.
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The success of any team or enterprise depends, in part, on the leader's ability to earn the trust of his or her employees. Yet study after study reports declining loyalty all around us. The trust must be rebuilt to ensure solid economic regrowth. Real leaders recognize the need to restore trust, and they invest in the time and effort needed to do so. Is trust missing in the workplace at your company? If so, why? What can be done to foster trust in your workplace?

To rebuild trust demands the initiatives of real leadership. Concrete steps that those in positions of leadership can take to help foster trust include:

Recognizing the accomplishments and successes of others.

Hiring management and leaders based on abilities, ethics, and morals.

Investing in fail-safes to make sure management actually lives up to expectations.

Instituting performance-based compensation.

Being open, honest, and up-front with employees.

Admitting your mistakes rather than passing the buck.

Many successful leaders can achieve even greater results if they become stronger change agents—if they learn how to develop stronger alliances, coalitions, partnerships, and connections with others. How would you rate your own ability to mobilize widespread support for the initiatives that are important to you? How can you improve on that ability? Are you passionate enough about those initiatives? What else can you do to strengthen strategic alliances and gain widespread support?

The next time you are in a position to rally the troops, think about how important it is to believe in what you're doing and how you're doing it. If you do not believe in yourself and your mission, how can you expect others to believe in you?

When you fail in something or don't live up to expectations—yours or someone else's—what do you do? Do you quickly move on, or do you stop, assess what happened, determine the mistakes that were made by you or someone else, figure out what could have been done differently to improve the outcome, and then move on? Real leader or not, we're all supposed to learn from our mistakes in whatever we do. In fact,
even with positive outcomes, it is important to review the steps and actions that led to that success and analyze what could have been done differently to further improve on the outcome.

How can overcoming adversity or rebounding from it help shape an emerging leader's skill set? What can you learn from your mistakes and your successes? In the context of leadership, what are some of the mistakes you have made in the past? Write them down, then think about how you might have handled the situation differently to prevent or avoid the mistake, or at least lessen its negative impact.

To further entrench your own real leadership, believe in yourself and what you can accomplish, then passionately follow the credo of service above self, empowerment and not control, and serving rather than being served. Forget garnering the “atta boys” for yourself; pursue them for your team members and their projects instead.

Listen to the views, perspectives, and opinions of those around you, too. They are invaluable in forming your own perspective. In that vein, surround yourself with people who excel in areas you do not, and don't hire “yes” men or “yes” women, but be confident and trust in your own judgment—your gut feelings. Utilizing actionable data before making decisions is great, but also appreciate that too much data may lessen the need for your good judgment.

Be diligent in hiring new staff, too. Avoid people who are always negative, are circumventers, or may try to undermine team efforts. If despite your best efforts, you find yourself working with someone like this, have the guts—the real leader-ship—to admit your mistake and correct it.

Character is the bedrock of leadership development.

Real leaders take on the tough issues and challenges, and are not afraid to stand up for their values and beliefs, no matter how unpopular. Be leery of the executive who is conflict averse. Conflict, when channeled effectively, is often a positive change-maker.