Real Leaders Don't Boss

by Ritch K. Eich

  Leland Doan, Dow Chemical CEO, used his unique brand of quiet diplomacy as a bridge between the old and emerging leaders of the company, and thus positioned Dow for greatness going forward. As author Don Whitehead writes in The Dow Story: The History of Dow Chemical Company (McGraw-Hill, 1983), Doan led “the company over the postwar shoals into its greatest period of growth in its history.” Do you really believe that one of a real leader’s most important roles is not to develop a leadership pipeline within the organization? At one time, Dow boasted of having more individuals with doctoral degrees on its payroll than any company or university in the country.

  In sports, John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Nick Saban, and Bo Schembechler are excellent examples of real leaders who could and did draw from a ready supply of athletes clamoring to be part of the team. None of these outstanding leaders ever bossed, but they were definitely disciplined; indeed, they are examples for trying to teach athletes much more than the X’s and O’s of basketball and football, and many of the young men they mentored are champions in all aspects of life.

  Tough Leaders for Tough Times

  Recently, I had the privilege of meeting Gen. Tony Zinni, highly decorated retired U.S. Marine, former CENTCOM commander in chief, diplomat, presidential advisor, and confidant to several corporate CEOs. Zinni, along with Tony Koltz, recently authored Leading the Charge: Leadership Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom (Palgrave McMillan, 2009).

  Zinni says that there is a “deep desire among Americans for true leadership in troubled and confusing times.” He states that “the new leader must be able to operate at a blisteringly fast pace and be quick to harness ever-evolving technologies.”2 If Zinni and others are correct in these assessments, that a major reordering of the world is occurring and that we are experiencing a “shake-up” like no other, it is clear that we need leaders who have the ability and toughness to place things in proper perspective and the perseverance to get up after being knocked down, be stronger than before, and succeed.

  Leaders Anywhere, Anytime

  Real leaders aren’t found only in the military, Congress, or the C-suite. Each of us can be the captain of our own veritable ship and an inspiration to those around us anywhere, anytime, and in any situation.

  Consider the case of two volunteers. Mike Andres of Simi Valley, California, is an individual who, as a volunteer, is a real leader to those around him. He’s not CEO of The Biggest Company in the World. Until recently, he served as a volunteer hole captain of the Northern Trust–sponsored Los Angeles Open golf tournament’s special marshals. His role was to ensure that decorum wass maintained at all times during the tournament on the links at the Riviera Country Club.

  Andres always took his job as a volunteer very seriously. He kept his team of volunteers informed via phone calls prior to the local tournament, with e-mail updates about participating golfers—stars and otherwise—and through other forms of communication. Beyond the basics, Andres made sure participants understood the mission of the tournament, were acquainted with the charities that benefit from tournament proceeds, and knew what was expected of them as marshals. He also carefully outlined possible expectations in terms of various participating golfers’ preferences, issues, and idiosyncrasies. His goal, like that of the CEO of a major company, was to make sure his team knew the players, what to expect, and how to react to whatever situation might arise.

  Ed Pagliasotti, a retired Air Force colonel, is another volunteer and real leader to others. He is the volunteer head of the Retired Activities Office at Naval Base Ventura County. His job is, in part, to develop other volunteers who can then ably assist former military personnel and their family members to navigate the military bureaucracy and receive the services they have earned.

  He, too, takes his unpaid job very seriously and works diligently to maintain high standards amid what can be overwhelming layers of government bureaucracy. Despite the many challenges, Pagliasotti maintains his sense of humor and steadfast determination and direction. His commitment to personal quality and service is unforgettable.

  In the workplace, commitment makes a difference, too. Years ago when I took over as chief of public relations at Blue Shield of California, the company and the healthcare industry were in turmoil. The San Francisco–based healthcare company had been around for nearly 75 years, but over the years its brand had lost some of its luster.

  My goal was to enhance the integrity and brand of the company by boosting its visibility. We wanted Blue Shield to be instantly recognizable as delivering superior value and service to its customers. The solution, my team determined, was to partner with a highly visible, highly respected community leader—in this case, the San Francisco Giants baseball club. The partnership would include advertising at Pacific Bell Park (now AT&T Park) and promoting the Giants’ and Blue Shield’s anti-domestic violence campaign. It was a new and different approach for the health insurer, and initially the top leaders were opposed to the initiative. But I was convinced it was a good fit and a necessary alliance that would re-invigorate the brand by enhancing the organization’s image in the city and across the state. It also would create a positive partnership with a very popular organization, the San Francisco Giants, one built around the prevention of domestic violence. Senior management at Blue Shield eventually agreed to the alliance, and 10 years later, the program is still going strong and so is Blue Shield. Mario Alioto, the Giants’ superb corporate marketing vice president with whom I worked directly for many consecutive weeks to develop a mutually acceptable proposal, became a close friend in this process of “shuttle diplomacy” between our companies. He, too, is a real leader.

  Relationship Wisdom

  As former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates so aptly demonstrated in his tenure under both the Bush and Obama administrations, leadership is so much about relationships. To accomplish goals, to get things done in the government, in the workplace, and in your life, requires alliances with others. Without them, success—if achieved at all—will be short-lived. In other words, leaders can’t go it alone. It takes troops who understand your vision to help achieve your goals. It’s interesting to note that many leading business schools have only recently begun to realize the importance of experiential learning, critical skill development, and “people skills.” Learning how to effectively work with others has never been more important.

  As a real leader you must have a keen desire to listen to all the stakeholders, starting with employees. CEOs must recognize that they can learn from interactions with employees and other key shareholders. The interaction, especially if frequent enough, instills two-way trust and the leader’s vision is made real to all.

  The Family Model

  Many lessons from the workplace are interchangeable with the experiences in raising a family. As Amway co-founder and NBA Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos said, “Leadership is what you do at home.” DeVos is a gifted leader who is certainly no stranger to adversity, having overcome many challenges on his way to the top of the business world. He’s a man of great faith, an indefatigable cheerleader, and an articulate and staunch champion of the free enterprise system.

  My wife, Joan, and I received similar good advice from our minister, who performed our wedding ceremony many years ago. He advised us to model leadership in our lives, to read books on marriage and then discuss them, never to go to bed angry with your spouse (both of us having had our share of yawningly long hours at work the next day because of it), and to reach agreement on our respective life goals before our wedding. He was a firm believer that each one of us needed to make a 150-percent effort in order for our union to survive and blossom.

  Neither of us really used the terms leadership or public service to shape our discussion of the fundamentals of the kind of home we hoped to establish, nor was the term used in either of our parents’ homes. But leadership and public service were more than abundant in Joan’s home and in mine; they just weren’t labeled as such.

  We established several gro
und rules that we would strive to live by. They included:

  Having a game plan (what many organizations typically refer to as their “vision” and “strategy”). It consisted of a few foundations: to agree on the part of the country we wanted to live in where there was heterogeneity, diversity, and a good college because lifelong learning was an integral part of our ethos; to select a community where we could afford to live and participate actively; to get to know one another better before we started a family (which we would do four years later); and to share our experiences and our love with each other at the end of our respective workdays.

  Setting a high moral standard (businesses often call this their integrity or ethical principles). We strived to set a high standard of regularly practicing our faith, remaining active in a denomination of our choosing when we began a family, and raising our children in the church because we believed it provided a key part of the foundation for a strong, healthy family.

  Creating family traditions (organizations sometimes call this corporate culture). We wanted to instill in our children an appreciation of people different from them; to broaden their and our knowledge of the arts, literature, and history; and to visit much of the United States and other countries. It was important that our children learn self-discipline, respect for others, proper etiquette, and how to overcome adversity, for experiencing some failure is an effective teacher and builder of strong character and resiliency. We also believed it was vital to our sons’ development that they learn to love, have fun, be positive, be thankful for what they have, and assist others less fortunate.

  Developing skills for success (some businesses call this focus, execution, and risk-taking). We believed that our children needed to learn to be independent thinkers, self-sufficient, broad-minded, and secular as well as religious. We strived to expose them to people who were intellectually curious, who were well read and whose views weren’t necessarily the same as ours. We also wanted them to have heroes—people they had read about or had seen—who were inspiring, courageous, and worth looking up to. The phrase “Mom (or Dad), I’m bored” was never tolerated in our home. We used books, Boy Scouts, athletics, concerts, art galleries, lectures, travel, friendships from various faiths, and numerous family discussions to broaden their horizons and keep them occupied.

  We had often talked about how best to prepare our children to enable them to hopefully reach their full potential. I’ll never forget when my wife shared a quote with me from Alabama’s legendary head football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, that in a few words captured many of the lessons we tried to teach our children: “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”

  “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”3

  —Sir Winston Churchill

  Leadership Wisdom

  Now it is your turn to take the lead, to position yourself to become a real leader. Remember that the methods of leadership may change from place to place, and different leaders offer their own style of leadership. But one thing remains a constant: leaders must find ways to inspire their team if they, their people, and their companies are to succeed. Here are a few more leadership thoughts gleaned from years in the trenches that may help you grow your own leadership skills the right way:

  On hiring: Before hiring an individual, ask yourself: “Is this the kind of person I would want to be in a foxhole with?” If the answer is no, it may be best to pass on hiring the person. After all, leadership success is a team effort. Everyone on the team must be able to sacrifice, work together, and do so closely.

  On firing: Firing is a last resort after every other change effort has failed. Genuinely help the person find a position elsewhere where there is a better fit. For the good of other staff or the organization as a whole, terminating an employee is sometimes the only alternative.

  On team-building: Building the right team, and giving each team member clear roles and responsibilities that match their skills, is an essential part of the leadership role in whatever you do.

  On change: Real leadership implies change—change that moves the organization forward in strategic ways to achieve its overarching goals. Effective leadership forecasts that needed change will occur and that it will improve the organization’s fortunes.

  On countermoves: Leaders must be like good quarterbacks, in that they need to see the field ahead of them, anticipate what linebackers and defensive backs are going to do, and have an audible they can call before the snap to counter their likely moves. That’s one reason current and former senior enlisted personnel and officers in the military often make good leaders: they’re taught the art of strategy better than most.

  On honesty: Michael Bradbury emphasizes the importance of honesty: “If I’ve learned anything, it is to be 100 percent honest and forthcoming. The public forgives a mistake but never forgets or forgives an attempt to cover up the mistake.”4

  On greater achievements: Passion and pride drive teams to excellence. Committed team members who believe in their goals and their leaders’ vision realize the need to get better, achieve more, and gain broader recognition and success for their organization. They also want to set an example others can emulate, follow, and adapt.

  On the Golden Rule: A real leader is always kind and considerate of others, regardless of his or her position or station.

  Beyond Compensation

  How will you, as a leader, inspire and motivate others? That is up to you. I’ve tried to provide a backbone of understanding from what four decades of studying and working with real leaders has taught me. Real leaders adhere 24/7 to all of the Eight Essentials of Effective Leadership—including honesty, integrity, vision, passion, commitment, communication, and accessibility. But to infuse others with the excitement that’s required for long-term team success also demands recognition of employee successes.

  Cash for performance is great, but often a leader can’t offer monetary rewards for a job well done. As effective, if not more so, is a personal note of congratulations or thanks. It is that recognition for a job well done that you read about in Chapter 2 that is important to Millennials in today’s workplace. It is as important to all generations of workers, too.

  For many years, I’ve been using a 3.5 inch by 5.5 inch card with two signal flags and the words Bravo Zulu below the flags to commend members of my team and others in the organization who achieve something especially noteworthy. “Bravo Zulu,” in Navy jargon, means “well done.” On the back side of the card, I write a handwritten note. It’s personal, congratulatory, unexpected, and appreciated. A word of warning, however: don’t hand out the recognitions too frequently or foolishly, or their effect will be diluted.

  Bill Caudill, patriarch of the architectural firm Caudill Rowlett Scott of Houston, Texas, used his own interpretation of my Bravo Zulu card. Caudill used a pocket-sized card emblazoned with the firm’s logo to deliver personal congratulations to members of the firm who had done exemplary work. He used a combination of words and cartoonish pictures to convey his message. Each card was delightfully and personally unique. As such, employees tacked them up in their workstations, almost as military personnel might display their medals.

  A black and white version of the Bravo Zulu “Job Well Done” cards.

  You Can Do It, Too

  Cookie-cutter leadership—like cookie-cutter leaders—doesn’t work. Every real leader is unique in his or her own way—in style, in approach, in attitude. What is universal, though, is the strong commitment and intense passion that real leaders have for the job at hand, no matter how big or small it may be. One of the biggest mistakes of aspiring leaders is to think that all he or she has to do is the same thing as some other leader. Patterning your leadership style after another does not make you an effective leader. Be yourself and allow the passion for what you do to come through.

  Each of us can become a real leader by observing other (good and bad) leaders, and by reading and studying what work
s and what does not work with the help of real-life practice and experience. Watch the workings in your own company, turn on the TV or radio, or pick up your handheld and listen to and watch the interactions of others in the news. Study political jockeying in the news. What actions, attitudes, or approaches propel someone ahead or force someone else to concede and why? It’s all a valuable study in leadership or lack thereof, and you can learn from it.

  Make a list and write down what you consider the most important tenets of your leadership style. Then, make a list of what you regard as others’ most remarkable leadership traits. Read both lists and then think about how you do or do not live up to those aspirations. And, yes, don’t forget to make a third list of those traits you don’t admire but have observed in others in positions of responsibility, so you can avoid those characteristics at all costs. If you come up short in one area, ask yourself what you can do to improve. Continue to add to these lists, as they will help be your guide to developing your leadership skills as one of tomorrow’s leaders. Keep in mind, too, the tenents of servant leadership we’ve talked about throughout this book. A servant leader doesn’t think in terms of having subordinates or followers. He or she is a champion for the team and always promotes and helps them. He or she sets the most enviable example and demonstrates by his or her character what serving others really means.

  Takeaway

  Don’t allow obstacles to stand in the way of achievement. Real leaders learn how to overcome obstacles, to grow from the experiences, and to flourish.

  Each of us is the CEO of our own life and can achieve great things with the right attitude, approach, and outlook. Steve Jobs, the late, extraordinary, and pioneering co-founder of Apple, once said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else life.”5

  Leaders cannot go it alone. It takes a troop that understands your vision to help achieve your goals.