Having bought most of the books on leadership ever published, had a go at it myself, and also having been led by countless others, I am of the opinion that the book, The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner has got it right…
There are five fundamental practices of exemplary leadership -
- Challenge the process.
- Inspire a shared vision.
- Enable others to act.
- Model the way, and
- Encourage the heart.
Buy the book to get the detail (by the way, I get nothing for the recommendation!).
As a supplement to this excellent publication, I also recommend Sathnam Sanghera’s column in the Business section of The Times today. Sathnam writes some great stuff, and today summarises “… five more banal skills that are, in my view, essential in business leaders -
- The ability to read in moving vehicles….When you’re in charge of something you can’t waste time staring into the middle distance or throwing up when there are slides to get through between meetings…
- Public speaking…if you’re scared of public speaking, you’re done for because you will at some point have to address a group of people…
- A fondness for one’s own company…you rarely have time to see family and friends and you can’t bond with colleagues at any level because you can’t indulge in the gossip that is the primary glue of working life…
- The ability to get by on little sleep…Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, is the only leader I’ve come across who admits to needing eight hours; everyone else seems to get by on four or five.
- An unexpressive face. A leader cannot betray emotions such as boredom or frustration: a mindlessly upbeat demeanour is essential to navigating the conferences, PowerPoint presentations, and sycophancy…”
I think Sathmans got it about right! Do you?
By the way, no prizes for guessing which of Sathnam’s essential skills lifted my heart!
