Leadership - The Glue That Binds

In an earlier series entitled Five Point Performance, I described five points that together create what I call Strategic Management. Four of the points are Vision, Motivation, Plans and Execution. The fifth is Leadership -- easily the most important of the five.

Leadership is the glue that binds the five points together. Leaders create the vision, communicate it and motivate others to take it up, help create the plans, and direct and control the execution of the plans. Without a leader the "ship" founders -- strategic management leads to nothing.

You may be a poor leader and have a good company, but you won't have a great company until you become a good leader.

One way to become a better leader is to emulate the practices of a known great leader. An example we can all relate to -- whether a student of history or not – is Abraham Lincoln. Some people believe him to have been the greatest leader of all time. Donald T. Phillips wrote a book, Lincoln on Leadership (Warner Books, 1992), describing the power of Lincoln' leadership.

Studying the life of Lincoln as a leader has practical benefit because the leadership traits he exhibited can be practiced by leaders at all levels, including leaders of small businesses. For Lincoln leadership meant the following practices:

He left the confines of his office to circulate among his subordinates, and among the troops. Lincoln spent more time with the army than any other president, and is the only American president to have come under enemy fire. He learned first hand about issues, not waiting for them to be filtered or spun by his subordinates.

He suggested many courses of action to his generals, but never ordered them to take them. He empowered them by delegating responsibility and authority to make their own decisions, while at the same time exhorting them to be aggressive. He persuaded rather than ordered them to move. And those who would not take the lead were removed from their place at the head of the army. He practiced leadership as a way of creating openings for other people to step through.

He had a clear vision of the future -- an undivided Union of states with equality among people and no slavery. His followers slowly came to follow the fierceness with which he held to this vision. It was the light to which he moved forward. He held tightly to this vision as he twisted and turned the government and the army toward it --even in the face of harsh criticism and mockery.

He told the truth to his followers no matter how bad the news. Leaders who are honest and forthright gain the respect of their followers, and are enabled to lead. It’s no wonder we have no great leaders in our government -- honesty seems to have gone away in the last century.

He encouraged innovation and risk taking. He constantly asked the question, “Can we do better”? He asked for suggestions, then frequently responded by saying “We will try it. If we never try, we never succeed”. Lincoln surrounded himself with people skilled in their fields, not with “yes men”. He wanted their ideas, their innovation.

These are only some of the “modern” leadership practices used by Abraham Lincoln some 135 years ago. Timeless, effective, and practical for the ordinary leader. Emulate Lincoln, and you can become an effective leader, the glue to build your organization into a great one.

Charles R. Schaul, Partner of SixPillars Research Group, focuses on increasing business profits by resolving the problem of customer attrition. Aligning companies with their customers; generating and implementing strategic initiatives; and promoting employees’ customer focus through commitment, responsibility and accountability combine to achieve the result.

Copyright 2008 by Charles R. Schaul, Boulder, Colorado. All rights reserved.