Lead
By Gary Burnison
Leadership is mostly about judgment
Leadership is making others believe - in themselves, in the organization, in the impossible, and translating that belief into reality.
Leadership is part strategy, but mostly judgment. Its sense and sensibility.
Who are high-impact employees
IBM did a research a few years ago to judge high impact employees. The winning combination was ambition with humility. They coined a new expression: humbition.
The two key groups
Only two groups have the ability to make a company successful - its customers and its employees.
A balancing act
Leadership requires a balance between your authenticity and the role as the head of the company.
Impatience inspires fear
Impatience doesn't inspire high performance, impatience inspires fear.
Why leaders need to be accountable
The biggest hurdle to teams reaching their potential is the absence of accountability. As a leader, display a sense of accountability - consistently and publicly.
The age of perpetual strategic thinking
Today's strategic thinking must be dynamic and perpetual.
Make your leadership participatory
Sharpen your leadership to make it participatory. Sometimes you also need to drive a decision yourself in moments of uncertainty.
What to look for in leaders
Always look for leaders who have hunger, who have humanity and who have resilience.
What defines a company's culture
Few things are as powerful in determining a company's culture as the daily one-on-one interactions of its leadership.
Recognize performance
Good leaders are endlessly creative in recognizing performance and people. They should never celebrate efforts without results. If they do, they don't get accountability.
Filter data
Data is only as useful as your ability to filter and interpret it in context.
Feedback is the best data
Feedback is what will keep you ahead. It is not easy to hear but always very useful.
Communicate
Good leaders communicate in an authentic manner with stories from their experiences.
The quality of a leader's communication has a profound effect on culture and performance in the company.
Money is a poor incentive
Money can rent loyalty, but it cannot buy loyalty. If money is the only thing that keeps your employees to your company, they will stay there till someone else offers them more money.
When managers think rewards, they think money first. This is the 21st century workplace of knowledge workers.
The negatives of a money focus
A money focus produces a number of negatives: poorer performance, diminished creativity, doing the wrong things and reduced interest in tasks that were once intrinsically interesting.
What employees look for
Employees look for three things: autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Informal recognition is important, it must be constant and tailored.
Accountability leads to excellence
Holding people accountable takes discipline but then they will exceed your expectations.
Focus ahead
Leaders too often focus on probable changes versus possible changes. Good leaders focus ahead, do not look back.
Observe, measure and interpret
You must be a world class observer, objectively and continually measuring, learning and interpreting to make decisions tomorrow.
Inaction is dangerous
Inaction can be more dangerous than action, and failure to act is a choice.
Encourage information sharing...
You need to create an environment when people are free to express their views. Encouraging people to share information freely with each other builds authenticity and humility.
...And listen
When leaders listen they listen to nuances, tone, what is said and what is unsaid.
Listening takes diligent practice and a singular focus.
Learn constantly
"The most burning question for leaders today is - are you learning fast enough in a world that is changing fast." - Gary Hamel
Leaders acknowledge what they don't know.
Continued success requires growth and growth requires learning.
Know the history
Perspective comes from remembering the past but not staying there.
Apply that learning
At Korn Ferry, we highly value a trait we call 'learning agility' - the ability to draw from experience and apply that learning to entirely new situations.
Learn from mistakes
The most successful people make more mistakes than others, but they acknowledge it and learn from it.
Humility and wisdom
Success must breed humbleness, failure must impart wisdom.
Lead
By Gary Burnison
