By Rick DeMarco
Leadership is probably the topic of more articles on
organizational effectiveness and business success than any other subject. Over the years, the definition of effective
leadership has shifted from one of a strong autocratic leader who makes
decisions and drives the direction of others with little or no input and no
trepidation, to one who has the ability to get the best from people by engaging
them and providing them with what they need to be effective.
I believe that leadership has nothing to do with title
and everything to do with behavior. I
have seen people in my life with absolutely no title of any consequence lead
others to achieve amazing things. And I
have seen CEO’s who were unsuccessful in getting anyone to share his/her vision
or to follow his/her lead. After all, a
leader with no followers is really no leader at all. People may adhere to organizational structure
and hierarchy, but they don’t respect the title…..they respect the person with
the title. And in the end, it doesn’t
matter what a leader says….it matters what he/she does. Leading by example is the greatest attribute
of effective leaders. They model the
behavior that they are asking others to exhibit and lead the way towards
achievement of a clear vision.
And it has nothing to do with control and everything to
do with influence. You can order someone
to do something, but you can never order them to be passionate about it. Unless they share your vision and values,
you’ll never capture their heart or their true commitment. At best, you will be able to temporarily buy
their superficial commitment with money or other short term needs. Effective leadership is defined by the
ability to influence and inspire others to share a common vision, strategy, and
set of core values and to engage and mobilize them to collectively achieve that vision. People follow with passion and commitment
because they believe in their leader’s vision.
And I’m not talking about skillful manipulation. I’m talking about a sincere desire to create
an environment in which people truly see your vision and believe that achieving
it will have a significant impact on the company, on others, and on themselves.
