With the information directly in front of employees, succession management becomes less another planning event and more an ongoing activity. They also use it as a general querying and reporting tool. For example, HR managers can download a report showing what marketing positions are available in Europe, which candidates are being groomed for such positions anywhere in the world, and any skill gaps that might make it difficult to fill the jobs.
The system also lets managers download statistics on the talent pipelines, such as the ratio of potentials to incumbents, specific data related to gender and ethnicity, and the percentage of employees with international and cross-functional experience.
With the ability to search for multiple criteria, HR managers can view any segment of the organization with one query—from functional views like marketing to geographical regions like Latin America. Like Lilly, most of the best-practice companies we studied now rely on Web-based succession management tools to promote greater transparency and ease of use. At Dow Chemical, employees nominate themselves for positions online, and if a hiring manager has a preferred candidate, he or she must state this along with the posting.
Some companies even show compensation ranges by level and position. No longer is it sufficient to know who could replace the CEO; instead, you must know whether the right people are moving at the right pace into the right jobs at the right time. The ultimate goal is to ensure a solid slate of candidates for the top job. But when succession plans were consolidated at the corporate level, a single employee, Roger Jones, was found to be the potential successor for most of the key jobs at the company.
Sonoco now requires each division to generate most of its own successors from within. Frequent checks throughout the year can reveal potential problems before they flare up. One telling test of a succession management system is the extent to which an organization can fill important positions with internal candidates.
An outside hire for a role that is critical at either the functional or corporate level is considered a failure in the internal development process. For positions at the director level and above, the system shows the employee who currently holds the position as well as three potential successors. HR management can also access real-time data on a number of prescribed measurement areas, such as the ratio of employees with potential to reach a certain level to incumbents at that level.
There are goal ratios for each level of management for example, for the director level. The succession plan metrics also help the company identify gaps more broadly. With the click of a button, managers can learn how many ready-now candidates the company has for its top positions. Where there are none, that information triggers a search for internal development opportunities as well as executive recruitment activities.
Lilly can also uncover hidden vulnerabilities by determining how many employees are on more than three succession plans as ready-now candidates. Using a quarterly scorecard, the company tracks progress on goals and positional and pipeline data, diversity elements gender, race, ethnicity , job rotations, and turnover rates.
HR reviews the scorecard and then shares it with the executive team. Both processes need multiple owners—not just HR but the CEO and employees at all levels—if an organization is to develop a healthy and sustainable pipeline of leaders.
Without active commitment at the very top—as well as from the executive team—managers will sense that succession management is a tangential activity and may not commit to the program. In fact, division executives may hide and hoard talented employees by manipulating their assessments. He owns the talent management process and holds business unit heads personally responsible for meeting development objectives within their units, with the expectation that the bar will constantly be raised.
But it is not realistic or desirable for CEOs and their executive teams to have sole responsibility for the development of talent and leadership. Both corporate HR and functional or regional HR heads need to be involved.
Corporate HR provides standards, tools, and processes, and functional or regional HR people make sure that local units abide by the rules and customize them as appropriate. Certain elements of the system are not negotiable, such as the look and feel of reports and information, the timing of roll-up reports, replacement charts, and the rating system.
Then, the HR people within each line of business, working with the leaders of those organizations, may add a few technical or functional competencies to the list. Local HR also helps prepare the unit heads for the talent review meeting and manages the process at a local level. Board members should also be involved. But in this process, board members are often exposed to candidates only through formal presentations, and those candidates are usually handpicked by the CEO.
That leaves the succession decision up to one person—and his or her judgment may be seriously impaired by the wish to leave a positive legacy or the refusal to accept impending retirement. At Bank of America, CEO Ken Lewis meets every summer with his top 24 executives to review the organizational health of their businesses, including the talent pipeline. The meetings are personal in nature, with no presentation decks or thick books outlining HR procedures.
But they are rigorous. During these conversations, they make specific commitments regarding current or potential leaders—identifying the next assignment, special projects, promotions, and the like.
In a talent review session last year, for example, one executive made a pitch to grow his business unit at a double-digit clip. This required some shifts among top talent and a significant investment in building the sales and distribution workforce.
By contrast, the best-practice organizations we studied follow the Japanese notion of kaizen , or continuous improvement in both processes and content. They refine and adjust their systems on the basis of feedback from line executives and participants, monitor developments in technology, and learn from other leading organizations. Indeed, despite their success, none of the best-practice companies in our study expects its succession management system to operate without modification for more than a year.
Most had tweaked their systems recently to make them easier to use. Sonoco integrated four software systems to improve the speed and consistency of the data, while Dell actually cut back on the use of technology in its push for speed and simplicity.
Particularly in the early years of a new system, both the people managing the process and the people using it are likely to find any number of shortcomings, so HR officers and staff must be open to continual improvements—to make the system simpler and easier to use, and to add functions as needed. At the foundation of a shift toward succession management is a belief that leadership talent directly affects organizational performance. This belief sets up a mandate for the organization: attracting and retaining talented leaders.
Executives need to have a talent mind-set that allows them to feel comfortable talking about their A players as well as their low performers.
We reward top performers with stretch assignments, and we take action on low-performing leaders. Subpar leaders may block key developmental positions.
It is a process ordinary people use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and oth- ers. When the leader in everyone is liberated extraordinary things happen. We be- lieve that you are capable of developing yourself as a leader far more than tra- dition has ever assumed possible.
The Leadership Challenge is written both to strengthen your abilities and to uplift your spirits. We intend it to be practical and inspirational. We also make you a promise: everything in this book is evidence-based.
If you engage in the practices we describe in this book, you will improve your performance and the performance of your team. There is a catch, of course. You have to do it with commitment and consistency. This book has its origins in a research project we began over twenty-five years ago. The personal bests were experiences in which our respondents, in their own perception, set their individual leadership standards of excellence.
Instead, we assumed that by asking ordinary people to describe extraordinary leadership experiences we would find patterns of success. And we did. When they are doing their best, leaders exhibit certain distinct practices, which vary little from industry to industry, profession to profession, com- munity to community, and country to country.
Good leadership is an un- derstandable and universal process. Though each leader is a unique individual, there are shared patterns to the practice of leadership. And these practices can be learned. This book is about how ordinary people exercise leadership at its best. Instead, the stories you will read are those of regular people, from all walks of life—people like you—who get bigger-than-life results. In The Leadership Challenge, we offer guidance on these questions, and others.
We begin the expedition with two chapters that introduce you to our point of view about leadership. We offer evidence from our research and that of others to support the principles, provide actual case examples of real people who demonstrate each practice, and prescribe specific recommendations on what you can do to make each practice your own and to continue your develop- ment as a leader.
Every chapter from Three to Twelve concludes with sug- gested steps to take, alone or with others, to build specific skills in implementing the practice. They require little or no budget, discussion, and consensus among peers, nor approval of top management.
They just require your personal commitment and discipline. In our closing chapter, Chapter Thirteen, we offer a call to action, a call to everyone to accept personal responsibility to be a role model for leader- ship. The first place to look for leadership is within yourself.
We will ask you in our closing chapter to consider the difference you want to make, the legacy you want to leave. Those familiar with our previous three editions of The Leadership Chal- lenge will notice that the practices and the commitments have remained the same over more than a quarter century.
Nothing in our continuing research has told us that there is a magical sixth practice that will revolutionize the conduct of leadership, and nothing in our research suggests that any of the Five Practices are now irrelevant. But we did decide we needed to go on a diet. Each succeeding edition tended to put on a little weight—feature creep, as they say in the technology business.
There are still lots of stories and lots of research, we just focus more intently on the essentials and keep it simple. The other noticeable change from the previous edition is the inclusion of more cases from outside the United States. The Leadership Challenge has been translated into twelve other languages, and we wanted to bring leaders from around the globe more prominently into this new edition. Short of starting with Chapters One and Two, there is no sacred order to this book.
Go wherever your interests are. We wrote this material to support you in your leadership development. Just remember that each practice is es- sential. Finally, for those who wish to know more about how we conducted our research, detailed information on our methodology, statistical data, and high- lights of validation studies by other scholars of our leadership paradigm are available on the Web at www.
We hope this book contributes to the revitalization of organiza- tions, to the creation of new enterprises, to the renewal of healthy commu- nities, and to greater respect and understanding in the world.
We also fervently hope that it enriches your life and that of your community and your family. Leadership is important, not just in your career and within your organi- zation, but in every sector, in every community, and in every country. We need more exemplary leaders, and we need them more than ever. There is so much extraordinary work that needs to be done. We need leaders who can unite us and ignite us. Meeting the leadership challenge is a personal—and a daily—challenge for all of us.
We know that if you have the will and the way to lead, you can. You have to supply the will. June James M. Kouzes Orinda, California Barry Z. We had people who were walking around looking like they ran over their dogs on the way to work. It was very, very sad. Fifty- five percent of employees felt that they were in an environment in which they could not speak their minds, and 50 percent believed that nothing was going to happen even if they did.
Everybody wants to be successful. Everybody comes to work trying to make a difference. If there were an Olympic excuse-making team, we would be gold medallists. People were very disempowered. Dick set aside three entire days just for talking and listening to people. He gathered as much data as he could from these interviews and elsewhere.
Then he handed out stacks of Post-it notepads and asked the group to write down five adjectives that described the center at that time. He repeated this process two more times, asking them to write down five adjectives that described how they thought their peers would describe the center and what they thought the as- sociates, or customer service representatives, would say. Each time, their re- sponses were written on an easel. It was a bleak picture. Words such as demotivated, volatile, imprecise, failing, disorganized, frustrating, not fun, con- stantly changing priorities, lack of appreciation, too many changes, and not enough coaching appeared on the lists.
Even so, there were some positive com- ments about the people, such as dedicated, energetic, and supportive. Armed with this list of aspirations Dick and the management team began to craft a vision, mission, and set of values which they called commitments. Over the next six weeks Dick held twenty-two forty-five minute state- of-the-center meetings with every team in the call center.
Is there something we need to change? He said he woke up early one morning and realized that something was missing in his life. It may sound corny, but I love to be able to work with people so that they can be the best they can be.
He got his wish when the opportu- nity to take on the Concord Call Center came along. They understood that Dick was there because he wanted to be there, not because the call center was on some career path to a higher position. At those meetings Dick challenged everyone to take the initiative to make the new vision a reality.
I want you to talk to your managers, talk to my communications person, talk to me, or visit AskDick. Think about sitting in my chair. Give me ideas and proposals that I have the au- thority to approve.
So they do two half-hour town halls each month, with half the center attend- ing one, and the other half coming to the other. For example, the month that we visited Dick, the new-hire onboarding process, the upcoming associate survey, and clothing guidelines were the topics of dis- cussion. Recognition and celebration are a big deal to Dick. When he arrived at the Concord Call Center, very little of either was going on, so Dick put it on the agenda.
Although Pride Day was started before Dick arrived, he added new di- mensions to the ritual. Dick came up with the idea because he wanted something really visible yet inexpensive enough that they could do a lot of it. That medallion suspended from the gold, blue, and green beads symbolizes what all the values, vision, and mission are about to Dick.
Another thing they talk about is how other people see them as leaders. How do we spend our time every day? Do our goals match our commitments? Each and every decision and action is a moment of truth.
You say something and what do people see? The two have to be aligned. Expectations continue to be raised, by our shareholders, by our managers, and by our customers. He serves as a role model for leaders who want to get extraordinary things done in organizations. It can happen in a huge busi- ness or a small one. It can happen in the public, private, or social sector. It can happen in any function.
She had a four-week-old baby and a huge mortgage, and was wondering what was going to happen next. But Claire was also worried about what would happen to her client, with whom they were midway through an important promotion. Her concern for her client over- rode her personal concerns, so she called her contacts there, told them what was happening, and agreed on what they were going to do.
I will provide you with a stopgap. I thought at the end of that, gosh, there is something here, pro- viding people with a temporary marketing solution. I had had enough of printers, and creatives, and copywriters, so I thought maybe I could find other people to do the doing and I would just put them together with the client.
Whatever I do I like to do something different. I never wanted to be a me-too company from day one. There were a lot of naysayers.
Because Claire was so outspoken about her views of the industry, competitors were partic- ularly harsh. Claire remembers one time when a competitor looked at her, wagged his finger, and told her that she would never be a success in the busi- ness. She knew they were never going to be a High Street recruitment consultancy, but she wanted Stopgap to be everywhere and to be a company that people wanted to do business with.
For her the future is now. A clear set of values guides the daily decisions and actions that Claire and her staff make. These values came from walking in the shoes of her staff and their candidates. People come and work for us because they want to make a difference to peo- ple. They want to help people. But even more important to her than the candidate is her staff. She fervently believes that if you take care of your staff, they will take care of the candidate; if the staff takes care of the candidate, the candidate will take care of the client; and if the candidate takes care of the client, the client will return to the SG Group for more business.
Claire puts her staff first, knowing that they are the ones that ultimately determine the reputation of the company. People rarely leave the business, and if they do they are always welcomed back should they choose to return. Why would I want to leave when my best mates work with me? And yes, we do the job. They love coming to work because of the people that are here. Claire is very clear that she expects the values to be lived, not just talked about.
They are as much a discipline as any other operational values. It happens once a month from A. Everybody learns what the business turned over, and the profit made or loss taken. They film the meeting, so if someone has to miss it they can watch it on DVD.
Finally, there is a staff newslet- ter that goes out every other week for more personal needs, like someone wanting details of a great Mexican restaurant, a good plumber, or a flatmate. Being physically present is important for Claire. Claire fully understands the potency of her physical presence.
They prefer to see who you are, the real you. These are the informal kinds at which people toast personal successes, anniversaries, and births of babies. Every month staff members nominate people who have gone the extra mile. Any- body can nominate anybody. Every month all the nominations are considered, 99 percent are approved, and every winner gets a silver envelope placed on their desk thanking them for going the extra mile and presenting usually be- tween 25 and 50 Stopgap Points.
The whole idea is that each person is different and they can customize the plan to fit their needs. The entire scheme celebrates the individuality of each person.
The marketplace for freelance marketers has grown more and more com- petitive. We have peo- ple, and people have emotions, and people have needs.
If you are happy you do a better job. If you are excited about the business, and if you are excited about where it is going and what is happening in it, then there is a buzz, a physical buzz.
Leaders reside in every city and every country, in every position and every place. Leadership knows no racial or religious bounds, no ethnic or cultural borders. We find exemplary leadership everywhere we look. Though each experience we examined was unique in expression, every case followed remarkably similar patterns of action.
As we looked deeper into the dynamic process of leadership, through case analyses and survey questionnaires, we uncovered five practices common to personal-best leadership experiences. The Five Prac- tices are available to anyone who accepts the leadership about behavior. Exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain commit- ment and achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behav- ior they expect of others.
Leaders model the way. To effectively model the behavior they expect of others, leaders must first be clear about guiding principles. They must clarify values. This means talk- ing about your values. They speak and act on behalf of a larger organization. Leaders must forge agreement around common principles and common ideals.
Words and deeds must be consistent. Exemplary leaders go first. They go first by setting the example through daily actions that demonstrate they are deeply commit- ted to their beliefs. The personal-best projects we heard about in our research were all dis- tinguished by relentless effort, steadfastness, competence, and attention to detail.
We were also struck by how the actions leaders took to set an example were often simple things. Sure, leaders had operational and strategic plans. But the examples they gave were not about elaborate designs. They were about the power of spending time with someone, of working side by side with colleagues, of telling stories that made values come alive, of being highly vis- ible during times of uncertainty, and of asking questions to get people to think about values and priorities.
Modeling the way is about earning the right and the respect to lead through direct involvement and action. People follow first the person, then the plan. Inspire a Shared Vision When people described to us their personal-best leadership experiences, they told of times when they imagined an exciting, highly attractive future for their organization. They had visions and dreams of what could be. Every organization, every social movement, begins with a dream. The dream or vision is the force that invents the future.
Leaders inspire a shared vision. They envision exciting and ennobling possibilities. Leaders have a desire to make something happen, to change the way things are, to create something that no one else has ever created before.
In some ways, leaders live their lives backward. Their clear image of the future pulls them forward. Yet visions seen only by leaders are insufficient to create an or- ganized movement or a significant change in a company.
A person with no constituents is not a leader, and people will not follow until they accept a vi- sion as their own. Leaders cannot command commitment, only inspire it. Leaders have to enlist others in a common vision. To enlist people in a vi- sion, leaders must know their constituents and speak their language. People must believe that leaders understand their needs and have their interests at heart. Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue. Evelia Davis, merchandise manager for Mervyns, told us that while she was good at telling people where they were going together, she also needed to do a good job of explaining why they should follow her, how they could help reach the destination, and what this meant for them.
Leaders forge a unity of purpose by showing constituents how the dream is for the common good. Leaders stir the fire of passion in others by expressing enthusiasm for the compelling vision of their group. Leaders communicate their passion through vivid language and an expressive style. Whatever the venue, and without exception, the people in our study reported that they were incredibly enthusiastic about their personal-best projects.
Their own enthusiasm was catching; it spread from leader to constituents. Their be- lief in and enthusiasm for the vision were the sparks that ignited the flame of inspiration. Challenge the Process Every single personal-best leadership case we collected involved some kind of challenge. The challenge might have been an innovative new product, a cutting-edge service, a groundbreaking piece of legislation, an invigorating campaign to get adolescents to join an environmental program, a revolu- tionary turnaround of a bureaucratic military program, or the start-up of a new plant or business.
Whatever the challenge, all the cases involved a change from the status quo. Not one person claimed to have achieved a personal best by keeping things the same. All leaders challenge the process. Leaders venture out. None of the individuals in our study sat idly by wait- ing for fate to smile upon them.
They are willing to step out into the unknown. They search for opportunities to innovate, grow, and improve. Product and service innovations tend to come from customers, clients, vendors, people in the labs, and people on the front lines; process in- novations, from the people doing the work. Sometimes a dramatic external event thrusts an organization into a radically new condition. Leaders have to constantly be looking outside of themselves and their organizations for new and innovative products, processes, and services.
Leaders know well that innovation and change involve experimenting and taking risks. Despite the inevitability of mistakes and failures leaders proceed anyway. One way of dealing with the potential risks and failures of experi- mentation is to approach change through incremental steps and small wins. Little victories, when piled on top of each other, build confidence that even the biggest challenges can be met.
In so doing, they strengthen commitment to the long-term future. Not everyone is equally comfortable with risk and uncertainty. Leaders must pay attention to the capacity of their constituents to take control of challenging situations and become fully committed to change. It would be ridiculous to assert that those who fail over and over again eventually succeed as leaders.
Leaders are constantly learning from their errors and failures. Try, fail, learn. Leaders are learners. They learn from their failures as well as their successes, and they make it possible for others to do the same. It requires a team effort. It requires solid trust and strong rela- tionships. It requires deep competence and cool confidence. It requires group collaboration and individual accountability.
To get extraordinary things done in organizations, leaders have to enable others to act. After reviewing thousands of personal-best cases, we developed a simple test to detect whether someone is on the road to becoming a leader. That test is the frequency of the use of the word we. In our interviews, we found that people used we nearly three times more often than I in explaining their personal-best leadership experience.
This sense of teamwork goes far beyond a few direct reports or close confidants. They engage all those who must make the project work—and in some way, all who must live with the results. They know that those who are expected to produce the results must feel a sense of personal power and ownership. Leaders understand that the command-and-control techniques of traditional management no longer apply. Instead, leaders work to make people feel strong, capable, and committed. Leaders enable others to act not by hoard- ing the power they have but by giving it away.
She seeks out the opinions of others and uses the ensuing discussion not only to build up their capabilities but also to educate and update her own information and perspective. In the cases we analyzed, leaders proudly discussed teamwork, trust, and empowerment as essential elements of their efforts. Constituents neither perform at their best nor stick around for very long if their leader makes them feel weak, dependent, or alienated.
Authentic leadership is founded on trust, and the more people trust their leader, and each other, the more they take risks, make changes, and keep organizations and movements alive. Through that relationship, leaders turn their constituents into leaders themselves. Encourage the Heart The climb to the top is arduous and long. People become exhausted, frus- trated, and disenchanted. Genuine acts of caring uplift the spirits and draw people forward. It can come from dramatic gestures or simple actions.
One of the first actions that Abraham Kuruvilla took upon becoming CEO of the Dredging Corporation of India a government-owned private-sector company providing services to all ten major Indian ports was to send out to every employee a monthly newsletter DCI News that was full of success stories.
In addition, he intro- duced, for the first time, a public-recognition program through which awards and simple appreciation notices were given out to individuals and teams for doing great work. In the cases we col- lected, we saw thousands of examples of individual recognition and group celebration. When people see a charlatan making noisy affectations, they turn away in disgust.
Encouragement is, cu- riously, serious business. Lead- ers also know that celebrations and rituals, when done with authenticity and from the heart, build a strong sense of collective identity and community spirit that can carry a group through extraordinarily tough times.
We found it everywhere. These findings also challenge the belief that leadership is reserved for a few charismatic men and women.
Leadership is an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us. Or, we should say, the theory that there are only a few great men and women who can lead others to greatness is just plain wrong.
Likewise, it is plain wrong that leaders only come from large, or great, or small, or new organi- zations, or from established economies, or from start-up companies. We con- sider the women and men in our research to be great, and so do those with whom they worked. They are the everyday heroes of our world. To us this is inspiring and should give everyone hope. Hope, because it means that no one needs to wait around to be saved by someone riding into town on a white horse. And you are one of them, too.
In talking to leaders and reading their cases, there was a very clear message that wove itself throughout every situation and every action. The message was: leadership is a relationship. Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. A relationship characterized by mutual respect and confidence will overcome the greatest adversities and leave a legacy of significance.
Evidence abounds for this point of view. In an online survey, respondents were asked to indicate, among other things, which would be more essential to busi- ness success in five years—social skills or skills in using the Internet. Seventy- two percent selected social skills; 28 percent, Internet skills. Similar results were found in a study by Public Allies, an AmeriCorps or- ganization dedicated to creating young leaders who can strengthen their com- munities.
Among the items was a question about the qual- ities that were important in a good leader. Success in leading will be wholly dependent upon the capacity to build and sustain those human relationships that enable people to get extra- ordinary things done on a regular basis. If leadership is a relationship, as we have discovered, then what do people expect from that relationship?
What do peo- ple look for and admire in a leader? Practice Commitment Model the Way 1. Clarify values by finding your voice and affirming shared ideals.
Set the example by aligning actions with shared values. Inspire a Shared Vision 3. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations. Challenge the Process 5.
Search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to improve. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from experience. Enable Others to Act 7. Foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating relationships. Strengthen others by increasing self-determination and developing competence. Encourage the Heart 9. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence.
Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community. But they paint only a partial picture. With these brush strokes the picture takes on depth and vitality. What leaders say they do is one thing; what constituents say they want and how well leaders meet these expectations is another. Because leadership is a reciprocal process between leaders and their constituents, any discussion of leadership must attend to the dynamics of this relationship.
Strategies, tac- tics, skills, and practices are empty without an understanding of the funda- mental human aspirations that connect leaders and constituents. To balance our understanding of leadership, we investigated the expecta- tions that constituents have of leaders.
We asked constituents to tell us what they look for in a person that they would be willing to follow, someone who had the personal traits, characteristics, and attributes they wanted in a leader. Their responses both affirm and enrich the picture that emerged from our studies of personal leadership bests. Subsequent content analysis by several in- dependent judges, followed by further empirical analyses, reduced these items to a list of twenty characteristics each grouped with several synonyms for clarification and completeness.
What do they expect from a leader they would follow, not because they have to, but because they want to? The results have been striking in their regularity over the years, and they do not significantly vary by de- mographical, organizational, or cultural differences.
And these same four have consistently been ranked at the top across different countries, as shown by the data in Table 2. What people most look for in a leader a person that they would be will- ing to follow has been constant over time. And our research documents this consistent pattern across countries, cultures, ethnicities, organizational func- tions and hierarchies, gender, educational, and age groups. The Five Practices of Exemplary Lead- ership and the behaviors of people whom others think of as exemplary leaders are complementary perspectives on the same subject.
The majority of respondents are from the United States. Since we asked people to select seven characteristics, the total adds up to more than percent. For example, leaders cannot Model the Way without being seen as honest. The leadership practice of Inspire a Shared Vision in- volves being forward-looking and inspiring. When leaders demonstrate capacity in all of The Five Practices, they show others they have the competence to get extraordinary things done.
The percentages vary, but the final ranking does not. Since the very first time we conducted our studies honesty has been at the top of the list. They want to know that the person is truthful, ethical, and principled.
When people talk to us about the qualities they admire in leaders, they often use the terms integrity and character as synonymous with honesty. No mat- ter what the setting, everyone wants to be fully confident in their leaders, and to be fully confident they have to believe that their leaders are individuals of strong character and solid integrity. We want to be told the truth. We want a leader who knows right from wrong.
We want our leaders to be honest because their honesty is also a reflec- tion upon our own honesty. Of all the qualities that people look for and ad- mire in a leader, honesty is by far the most personal.
More than likely this is also why it consistently ranks number one. Over time, we not only lose respect for the leader, we lose respect for ourselves.
Honesty is strongly tied to values and ethics. We appreciate people who know where they stand on important principles. We resolutely refuse to fol- low those who lack confidence in their own beliefs. Forward-Looking A little more than 70 percent of our most recent respondents selected the ability to look ahead as one of their most sought-after leadership traits. Peo- ple expect leaders to have a sense of direction and a concern for the future of the organization.
This expectation directly corresponds to the ability to en- vision the future that leaders described in their personal-best cases. They have to have a point of view about the future envisioned for their organizations, and they need to be able to connect that point of view to the hopes and dreams of their constituents. The reality is far more down to earth. Vision reveals the beckoning summit that provides others with the capacity to chart their course toward the future.
We want to know what the organization will look like, feel like, and be like when it arrives at its destination in six quarters or six years. Compared to all the other leadership qual- ities constituents expect, this is the one that most distinguishes leaders from other credible people. But this expectation does mean that leaders have a special responsibility to attend to the future of their organizations.
A leader must be able to communicate the vision in ways that encourage people to sign on for the duration and excite them about the cause. Although the enthusiasm, energy, and positive attitude of an exemplary leader may not change the content of work, they certainly can make the context more meaningful. If a leader displays no passion for a cause, why should anyone else?
Being upbeat, positive, and optimistic about the future offers people hope. Instead, they need leaders who communicate in words, demeanor, and actions that they believe their constituents will over- come. Emotions are contagious, and positive emotions resonate throughout an organization and into relationships with other constituents. To get extra- ordinary things done in extraordinary times, leaders must inspire optimal performance—and that can only be fueled with positive emotions.
They must see the leader as having relevant experience and sound judgment. This kind of competence inspires confidence that the leader will be able to guide the entire organization, large or small, in the direction in which it needs to go.
Organizations are too complex and multifunctional for that ever to be the case. This is particularly true as people reach the more se- nior levels. For example, those who hold officer positions are definitely ex- pected to demonstrate abilities in strategic planning and policymaking.
If a company desperately needs to clarify its core competence and market posi- tion, a CEO who is savvy in competitive marketing may be perceived as a fine leader. But in the line function, where people expect guidance in technical areas, these same strategic marketing abilities will be insufficient. Relevant experience is a dimension of competence, one that is different from technical expertise.
Experience is about active participation in situational, functional, and industry events and activities and the accumulation of knowl- edge derived from participation. Delivered via four intensive modules that take place over the course of six months, the compressed format is designed with your responsibilities in mind:. The two on-campus modules require a total of four weeks away from your job.
View all qualifying programs. HBS Home. Executive Education. Programs for Individuals Dropdown. Programs for Organizations. HBS Experience Dropdown. Admissions Dropdown. Participant Stories. Upcoming Sessions 1 of 2. Filled to Capacity. The program fee covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and most meals. Admissions Criteria and Process. Play video. Watch the Video Watch the Video.
Need Help? Contact Us:. This comprehensive guide includes module structure, alumni demographic, and program objectives. Learn More. Connect with a world of experience and insight in the Program for Leadership Development. PLD's portfolio director explains how the program develops the knowing, doing, and being of leadership.
Read More. Choose an educational path that delivers the key benefits of an EMBA—without the time commitment. Download Brochure. Program Finder. Overview Dropdown down. Program Announcement.
Thank you for your interest in this program. The NOV session is filled to capacity, and additional applications will not be accepted. You may wish to consider applying to the JUL session. Summary Innovative companies know that long-term success requires a pipeline of visionary leaders who can help build and secure a competitive edge. Dropdown down Dropdown up Summary Innovative companies know that long-term success requires a pipeline of visionary leaders who can help build and secure a competitive edge.
Key Benefits This leadership development program improves your decision-making and cross-functional skills by expanding your understanding of business operations and the global marketplace. With broader business knowledge, global perspectives, and leadership insights, you will be ready to create an agile culture that embraces digital transformation and implement strategies that drive breakthrough innovation.
Read More Dropdown down. Master the cross-functional challenges of corporate leadership Lead organizational change and inspire high-performing global teams Develop a personal leadership philosophy and presence that reflect greater confidence and capabilities Capitalize on the opportunities unleashed by digital transformation Formulate a detailed action plan to address your strategic and leadership challenges Build enduring bonds with accomplished peers who span functions, industries, and countries Take the first step toward becoming a member of the global HBS alumni community.
This leadership development program improves your decision-making and cross-functional skills by expanding your understanding of business operations and the global marketplace. Download the Program for Leadership Development Curriculum Guide Who Should Attend Specialists and star contributors with at least 10 to 15 years of work experience who have been identified as outstanding prospects for increased leadership responsibilities Managers from any business function and at any level, from project leaders to vice presidents.
Dive Deeper into the Experience. Discover more about business. And yourself. Lessons Learned on Female Leadership. Elena Zafirova describes the challenges women must overcome to assume leadership roles. Read Her Story. Discovering Different Ways to Learn and Engage. Dropdown down Dropdown up Who Should Attend Download the Program for Leadership Development Curriculum Guide Specialists and star contributors with at least 10 to 15 years of work experience who have been identified as outstanding prospects for increased leadership responsibilities Managers from any business function and at any level, from project leaders to vice presidents.
Admissions Criteria and Process We admit candidates to specific sessions on a rolling, space-available basis, and encourage you to apply as early as possible. Although the Program for Leadership Development has no formal educational requirements, admission is a selective process based on your professional achievement and organizational responsibilities. We select applicants who embrace challenges, seek genuine personal and professional growth, and are ready to think in new ways about their business and their contribution.
The curious, open-minded executive who commits wholeheartedly will find the program to be a highly stimulating, rewarding—even life-changing—experience.
0コメント