A few thoughts on Leadership

In the new generation ISO Management System Standards we find reference to the term “Leadership”, and clause 5.1 talks about “Leadership and Commitment”. The term has not replaced “top management”, as this term is still used in the body of the standard, and is still defined by ISO. The thought is rather that it takes sound leadership to move the organization towards its strategic goals and tactical objectives. The ultimate success of any business depends on its leadership, irrespective of the type of organization, be it government, a large corporate or even a SME.

 The standards, in accordance with the required structure under Annex SL, which has been adopted by ISO as the framework for all management system standards, contain a clause (Clause 5), termed “Leadership”. This clause is introducing some significant changes from the older versions of the standards in terms of the overall leadership and commitment, as well as an expectation for top management to engage more fully with the critical aspects of the management system

There is difference between leadership and management, as defined by the experts in the field:

Managers	Leaders
Managers have subordinates (People working for them)	Leaders have followers (voluntary following the leader)
Managers focus on work (getting the work done is paramount)	Leaders focus on people (they will do the work)
Managers seek comfort (If everybody do what is expected of them, and we don’t change things, everybody is happy)	Leaders seek risk (Without taking risk we will not move forward, we will stagnate)
	Leaders promise transformational benefits (It will be better for all of us when we reach our goals)
	Leaders are charismatic (They are able to convince people to follow them)

It is important to realize that being a good leader who will be able to achieve the strategic and tactical objectives of the organization does not mean the same as being a “good” person. Throughout history we have seen examples of brilliant leaders who were really not good people, and who often pursued unethical goals.

Leadership can be taught. We often hear about “born leaders”, but leaders can be made.  There are numerous workshops, courses, books, etc. available that focus on leadership. There is a yearly Gobal Leadership Summit, which focuses on giving us the tools to be good leaders, and many other initiatives. One that stands out is Captain David Marquet, who was a submarine Captain in the US Navy. His leadership style is known as Intent Based Leadership. It was not something that he just thought was a good idea, it was born out of desperation. He was captaining a nuclear submarine that he knew very little about, and he was supposed to authorize all decisions made on the vessel. It was heading towards chaos. When he realized that he was not really qualified (technically) to lead the crew, he decides not to issue orders to them, but rather to inform them about what had to be achieved. They then made the decisions about how to achieve these goals. It worked brilliantly, because his people had to start thinking for themselves and come up with the solutions. (Read all about it in “Turning the Ship Around” by David Marquet).

I have looked at great leaders through history to determine what they did to make them so successful. The results were rather surprising in terms of the leadership tools and methodologies that they were using. (I quote from other peoples research).

Mahatma Gandhi	Resilience Knowledge People skills Motivational approach Leading by example
George Washington	Foresight Vision Strategic planning Ability to lead people to success
Abraham Lincoln	Determination Persistence Beliefs Courage
Adolf Hitler	Brilliant strategy Meticulous planning Oratory skills Propaganda (even misinformation or fake news can be extremely powerful)
Muhammad	Courage Leading by examples Motivational approach Persistence Decision-making ability
Nelson Mandela	Determination Persistence Focus Will
Julius Ceasar	Decisiveness Boldness Eagerness Motivation Opportunism Strategic planning
Fidel Castro	Courage Strategy Hiring the right people Disseminating duties
Winston Churchill	Fearlessness Determination Unyielding perseverance Undying devotion to goals

As we can see, some traits are found in most of these leaders, such as courage, focus and devotion to their goals, etc.

In my research to find out what traits we can exercise in our daily roles as leaders in the workplace, I came upon the following (not my own list, but copied in good faith):

Vision	Good business leaders create a vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion – Jack Welch, American business executive, CEO of General Electric – 1981 to 2001 ·         Great leaders have a clear, exiting idea of where they are going  and what they are trying to accomplish ·         They are excellent at strategic planning ·         Managers get the job done ·         Leaders tap into the emotions of their employees
Courage	Courage is rightly considered the foremost of virtues, for upon it, all other depend – Winston Churchill – Prime minister of the UK – 1940 to 1945 ·         Have courage means that leaders are willing to take risks in the achievement of their goals with no assurance of success ·         There is no certainty in life or business, every commitment you make and every action you take entails risk of some kind
Integrity	With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity, you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt – Zig Ziglar – American author, salesman and motivational speaker ·         The core of integrity is truthfulness ·         Integrity requires that you will always tell the truth, to all people, in every situation ·         Truthfulness is the foundation quality of the trust that is necessary for the success of any business
Humility	Humility gets results The more you can contain your ego, the more realistic you are about your problems. You learn how to listen, and admit that you don’t know all the answers. You exhibit the attitude that you can learn from anyone at any time. Your pride doesn’t get in the way of gathering the information that you need to achieve the best results. It doesn’t keep you from sharing the credit that needs to be shared. Humility allows you to acknowledge your mistakes – Larry Bossidy – CEO of AlliedSignal (later Honeywell) ·         Humility does not mean weakness ·         It means that you have the self-confidence and self-awareness to recognize the value of others without feeling threatened ·         You are willing to admit that you are wrong ·         You recognize that you do not have all the answers ·         You are willing to give credit where credit is due
Strategic Planning	Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: It is the starting point – Henry Minzberg – Academic and author on business and management ·         Strategic planning is one of the most important leadership strengths ·         They have the ability to look ahead, to anticipate with some accuracy where the industry and the markets are going ·         Leaders ask: Based on what is happening today, where is the market going? Where is it likely to be in the 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. ·         They do this through thoughtful strategic planning ·         Because of the increasing competitiveness, only the leaders and organizations that can accurately anticipate future markets can possibly survive
Focus	Successful  people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their past successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take to get them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them – Jack Canfield – American author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer and entrepreneur ·         Leaders always focus on the needs of the company and the situation ·         Leaders focus on results, on what must be achieved by themselves, by others, and by the company ·         Great leaders focus on strengths, in themselves and in others ·         Your ability as a leader to call the shots and make sure that everyone is focused and concentrated on the most valuable use of their time is essential for the excellent performance of the organization
Cooperation	If your imagination leads you to understand how quickly people grant your requests when those requests appeal to their self-interest, you can have practically anything you go after – Napoleon Hill – American self-help author Your ability to get everyone working and pulling together is essential to your success Leadership is the ability to get people to work for you because they want to ·         The 80/20 principle applies ·         20% of your people contribute 80% of your results ·         Your ability to select these people and then to work well with them on a daily basis is essential for the smooth functioning of the organization ·         Gain the cooperation of other by making a commitment to get along well with each key person every single day ·         Your choice: You can do it yourself, or you can get someone else to do it for you

So, what can we expect form leadership in successful companies? They create an inspiring vision of the future, which is clearly linked to the strategic plan of the organization. They motivate and inspire people to engage with that vision. They manage delivery of that vision. They coach and build a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision.

In future blogs I will focus some more on leadership and its role in successful organizations, as well as the detailed requirements in the ISO standards as far as leadership is concerned.

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