Successful leaders balance knowledge, multiple skills, desire

What can be said about leadership that has not already been said? Perhaps nothing new. However, it is possible to share thoughts on the subject in a new way.
   
More than 9,000 books with leadership in the title are still in print. One can find more than 70 published definitions of leadership. One can search a Webster’s New World Dictionary and find more than 18,000 words used to describe leadership traits. Yet, there is no one, single, universally accepted definition of leadership.
   
So, after years of study and practice, I crafted my personal definition: Leadership is a practice in the exercise of power. This definition leads logically to consideration of what is involved in the practice and what is the nature and source of power? It is my strong belief, also known as bias, that the practice requires knowledge, multiple skills and a strong desire to lead — to take responsibility and stand accountable for results. In my opinion, the desire and the ability to lead is acquired, not genetically endowed.
   
Knowledge of the principles of leadership can be learned and practiced. The principles don’t change, but conditions change constantly. This requires that one who chooses to lead must learn and use the never-changing principles to fit constantly changing conditions. The principles, in my view, remain the same whether one leads in business, military, education, hospitals, churches, governments, professional practices such as law, engineering and medicine. Some never-changing principles are:
   
–Take initiative
   
–Take risks
   
–Foresight, vision and purpose
   
–Accept responsibility
   
–Stand accountable for results
   
–Develop trust
   
–Neither an enemy nor a competitor cooperates with your plans
   
–Long-term comes from multiple short-terms
   
–Deciding what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do
   
–Leadership is practiced in the context of the leader’s beliefs and values
   
–Personal example is a leader’s most powerful influence
   
–There are no reluctant leaders
   
These and other principles undergird leadership practices. A personal review of leadership practices can be done by asking questions such as:
   
–Do I provide information accurately and openly without any hidden agendas?
   
–Do I encourage others to show initiative?
   
–Do I listen attentively to others regardless of their positions?
   
–Do I lead by example?
   
–Do I make and implement decisions even if they may not be popular?
   
The only requirement to be a leader is to have a follower. When one has a follower, he or she makes two critical choices: 1. How shall I lead? 2. For what purpose? The answer to those questions will guide the leader’s subsequent behavior as he or she exercises the power available to him or her.
   
Additional knowledge required for effective leadership:
   
–Personal strengths and weaknesses — warts and all.
   
–Business or professional fundamentals — What is required to be successful?
   
–Human nature generally and specifically as it relates to immediate supervisor, direct reports, peers, customers, clients, patients, owners, suppliers and governments.
   
Specific skills required vary by the leadership environment — government, industry, military, religion, education, sports. However, there are common skill requirements regardless of the environment. Some are:
   
–Communication
   
–Planning and preparation
   
–Decision making
   
–Motivating
   
–Executing
   
This leads to consideration of power and the recognition of the difference between authority and power. Authority is the conferred right to act. Power is the ability to make things happen. One can study any organization and find example after example where people with no formal authority are the ones making things happen. The actions taken may be for good or ill. The point is that power does not care who has it, how it was obtained or how it is used. Power is race, gender, national origin neutral. Power is values, morality and ethics neutral. The problem with power is never “power,” but the abuse of power by the one who exercises it.
   
President Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” In my judgment, Lincoln could have easily included women in his statement.
   
President James Madison said, “The essence of government is power; and power lodged, as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.”
   
When one remembers that power does not care who has it, how it is exercised or how it was obtained, one can understand the strengths of different powerful leaders. Consider Mohammed, Jesus, Moses, Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung. All of these practiced the exercise of power and had worldwide influence. The difference that stands out in their leadership practice in the exercise of power was their personal value system that guided their practice.
   
There are two sources of power: conferred and personal.
   
The first, conferred power, comes from outside the leader. In the case of local, state and national office holders, the power comes from a majority of the voters. In the military, power comes with rank, which is conferred from above. Conferred power can come from conquest, through force of arms, as in dictatorships. It can come through divine right as in kings and queens. In industry, conferred power comes from boards of directors who select the CEO who then can confer power to his or her direct reports.
   
In this process, conferred power continues downward to supervisors and team leaders at the lowest level in the organization’s hierarchy.
   
The trap in conferred power is that power conferred can be taken away. Voters can change their minds. CEOs and other high-ranking executives can be fired. Some widely known, current examples can be found at Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing, Quest, Lucent, Worldcom and Adelphia.
   
While they hold conferred power, leaders can do good or evil. They can do legitimate things as well as illegitimate things. It all depends on their beliefs and values. Their behavior good or bad is a personal choice. The choice is always theirs. One should never forget that conferred power can be taken away by the source that conferred it or some other power source above the one that conferred it. The decade of the ’90s was an exciting, highly rewarding time for chief executive officers of publicly held companies. The beginning of the 21st century has been a rude wake-up call for industry leaders who have abused their conferred power. Arrogance and greed tempted many to forget that all conferred power is temporary.
   
The second source of power is personal. This power cannot be taken away by another. It can be added to or subtracted from, but the choice to add or subtract is a personal choice.
Personal power comes from knowledge, personality, talent, skill, energy and a highly developed social IQ. With personal power, one can lead without conferred power. One leads with expert knowledge and winsome persuasion.
   
Leading with personal power depends on understanding the need for others. The leader recognizes that little can be accomplished without the sincere support of others. Since there is no power to command, control, coerce or reward, the leader has to use his or her social IQ, which helps him or her relate to others in a way that enlists voluntary support.
   
Understanding the potential strength of personal power should encourage all organizations to promote and develop leadership at every level.
   
This cannot be done accidentally. It must be planned and executed. Experience suggests that developing leadership at all levels is best done through continual education and training, careful career guidance and encouraged self-development. With leadership at every level in an organization, teamwork becomes a reality. Any organization that believes in growth and continual improvement should strive for leadership at every level.
   
The U.S. Army teaches leadership at all levels. Officers and enlisted personnel study the U.S. Army Leadership Model, which is found in Field Manual 22–100. The army teaches that the leader must be something, must know something and must do something.
   
The manual deals with required values, attributes, personal knowledge, unit knowledge and actions that are necessary for effective leadership. The major point is that leadership must be found at every level if the military organization is to be as effective as it could be. In my opinion, this approach is true for any organization that wants to grow toward potential.
   
Everything mentioned in this first article fits all who would choose to lead. Nothing written here requires the leader to be moral and ethical. In the next article, I will cover my belief that the most enjoyable way to practice the exercise of power is as a professional. I am an advocate for a professional practice in the exercise of power. To practice professionally, one must be:
   
–Competent — Up-to-date knowledge
   
–Motivated to serve all contingent groups
   
–Ethical and moral
   
Principles of leadership and the leader’s values act like a compass. Principles and values point the way. They don’t shift or change. They provide guidance and they help the leader operate successfully under constantly changing conditions.