Self-awareness allows us to know who we are and what we believe.  Self-absorption, on the other hand, is a preoccupation with oneself to the exclusion of others or the outside world.  Many people in leadership roles are highly self-absorbed, but this behavior is an impediment to effective leadership.  On the other hand, self-awareness is essential to true leadership.

Self-awareness gives us the ability to know ourselves accurately and honestly.  It allows us to understand our values, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, priorities . . . . This self-knowledge is what enables us to be authentic.  It allows us to build on a strong foundation of values and beliefs. 

By learning and understanding who we are, we can begin to share ourselves with others.  This is critical, because true leadership means that others are willingly following us.  Certainly our position or title may enable us to impose our will on them, but real power comes when people freely choose who they will follow.  Most people want to know us as a person, before they follow us as their leader.  Human nature impels us to follow those who are worthy of our trust. 

All of “The If 16 Leadership Attributes” help us learn more about ourselves.  Together they support us to act and lead in ways that demonstrate our genuine selves.  Four attributes in particular play a critical role in building our knowledge of self and enabling us to lead and act accordingly.  They are CHARACTER, AUTHENTICITY, INTEGRITY, and SELF-EFFICACY. 

Let’s start with Character.   We are at our best when our actions and behaviors reflect who we really are.  Great leaders understand this.  They recognize the criticality of living and leading in ways that are consistent and aligned with their beliefs and values.   Leading with character goes beyond simply having character.  Our ability to lead is in large part based on our ability to instill trust in others.  Those we lead want and need to trust us.  And to trust us, they must know us.  That means allowing them to get close. 

Authenticity comes next.  So, what does it mean to be authentic?  IT means being true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.  Authentic leaders remain themselves no matter what happens or whom they are with.  People are dynamic and ever-changing beings.  Embracing authentic behaviors while letting go of inauthentic behaviors makes us stronger leaders. 

Many people confuse Integrity with honesty.  While the two are closely linked, they are not the same.  Integrity is much more than honesty.  Webster’s defines it as follows:  

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished

In leadership, both definitions of integrity are essential.  We are complex beings, and our character and principles reflect this complexity.  Living and leading in accordance with our own character and principles often requires us to make difficult trade-offs.  It is a matter of integrating all of our values and beliefs.  This is easy when they are in harmony.  The challenge comes when they conflict.  Integrity allows us to reconcile our conflicts and contradictions.

Finally, there is Self-Efficacy.  Dr. Albert Bandura, the psychologist who first described and studied self-efficacy, defines it as “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action to manage prospective situations.”  Highly self-efficacious people know themselves extraordinarily well.  They possess a genuine confidence in their own abilities.  Knowing who they are allows them to know what they are capable of. 

Imagine knowing yourself so completely that you could trust yourself, even when everyone else doubts you and believes you are wrong.  Imagine being comfortable enough with who you are that you can be yourself, regardless of the situation.  How would it feel to have the integrity to always seek and defend the truth, regardless of how unpopular it is?  What would it be like to have the self-efficacy to take on confidently any task set before you?   

Everyone has the ability to live and lead like this.  It requires a great deal of hard work and self-examination.  It demands extraordinary resolve and commitment.  Most of all, it means becoming and remaining truly self-aware.

The hard truth is that we will spend a lifetime understanding, acquiring, and developing the skills needed to be effective leaders.  Even with constant awareness and rigorous choice, we will always be works in progress, with an endless stream of opportunities to improve and grow.

How can we get the most out of our efforts to progress as leaders?  It starts with four questions that form the foundation for leadership development.

• Who am I?
• What do I want?
• What attracts others to choose to follow me?
• How can I earn and retain the privilege to lead?

While these are simple questions, our ability to answer them completely and honestly is extremely difficult.  Our willingness and ability to continuously ask and answer these questions is key to our long-term success and growth. 

In earlier posts, I defined a set of essential leadership attributes that form “The If 16 Leadership Framework.”  Understanding and mastering these attributes helps us understand and answer these four important questions. 

Who am I?  Self-awareness is at the heart of all growth and development.  Knowing who we are means knowing what we value.  It means digging and exploring our beliefs.  It also means looking at our choices and actions.  Are we living in a way that reflects our declared values and beliefs?  The leadership attributes most aligned with self-awareness are CHARACTER, AUTHENTICITY, INTEGRITY, and SELF-EFFICACY.

What do I want?  Once we start understanding who we are, we can begin to see what we want – what we want to achieve, what we want to learn, what our life’s mission is. . ..  The attributes that help us understand and answer this question are AMBITION, VISION, BOLDNESS, and RESILIENCE. 

How can I attract other to choose to follow me?  Most of us are told who we work for.  Our position in our organization defines that.  The best leaders are those whom others choose to follow regardless of their position.  Our self-knowledge and knowledge of what we want to achieve can help us attract others.  What truly draws others to us is our INSPIRATION, COURAGE, SELFLESSNESS, and STAMINA.  Our ability to demonstrate these attributes will make us the type of leader others want to follow.

How do we earn and retain the privilege to lead?  Those we lead will judge us by how we respond to the opportunities and challenges we confront.  When we respond well, it makes others want to continue to follow us.  The attributes most associated with this question are ENTHUSIASM, COMPOSURE, PATIENCE, and ACCOUNTABILITY.   Just as the consistency of our behavior will attract others, our consistency will also help us retain their trust and keep them following us.

Effective leadership depends on our willingness and ability to constantly ask ourselves these questions and to answer them objectively and honestly.  This is an endless cycle.  In the coming weeks, I will focus my posts on exploring each question and the attributes that supports it.

King's, "I Have a Dream" speech epitomized leadership vision.

Dreaming and thinking big are essential to visionary leadership.  All true leaders have the ability to articulate their vision for the future.  Vision is the ability to see things, as they should be, not as they are.  Rudyard Kipling clearly understood the importance of vision.  He knew that one’s vision must compel action and drive change.  The fifth couplet from his classic poem ‘If-’ encourages us to dream and think. 

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;

If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim, 

Every leadership theory has vision at its core.  It does not matter what we call it – vision, dream, aspiration, cause, mission, etc.  What matters is that it has certain essential elements.  A vision expresses a desire to do something meaningful.  It is an articulation of a future that is different (and presumably better) than today.  It gives our followers a general idea of the direction we will take.  Most importantly, a vision demonstrates a leader’s personal commitment to it.  Consider vision in the context of a journey.  Our vision says where we want to be, why we want to be there, how we can best get there, and what is required to reach our destination.  

What prompts us to take our vision out of the realm of thought and into the real world?  Most people have visions, but some visions never leave our heads.  We think, “Wouldn’t the world be better if…?”  This is where the vision ends; it is never stated and it compels no one to act.  Compelling visions generate energy, excitement and passion. They are communicated clearly and consistently.  They are repeated often, and they are spoken with excitement.  They cause others to embrace them as their own.  They drive us to take action and to invest ourselves in making them real.  A compelling vision motivates ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  Truly compelling visions inspire entire organizations or even societies to align behind them.  

Each of us is motivated and inspired by our own dreams.  Leaders like King, Reagan, Churchill, Thatcher, and Gandhi had the ability to dream and to articulate their vision in a way that draws us in.  How can we learn from their visions and lead more powerfully and effectively?  

1. Acknowledge the power of a compelling vision.  People need a vision to follow.  They want to know they are part of something bigger than themselves, and a compelling vision gives us something to which we can aspire. 
2. Our vision must be rooted in our values, beliefs, and principles. Our vision should also reflect who we are and what we believe.  Our passion for our vision will attract those we wish to lead.  When we believe in our vision, people know it.
3. Our vision should speak to both our core and extended stakeholders.   To our base it must say, “Our leaders understand this problem, and here is a way to solve it.”  To the broader stakeholder group it must say, “This problem is bad for all of us, and this solution will fix it without causing us harm.”  Compelling visions motivate us by first speaking to our hearts and then to our minds.  They can motivate us to deliver extraordinary results.   
4. Our vision reveals the power of being audacious while remaining credible.  We must strive to find the right balance between big and believable when articulating our vision.  We build credibility by proving our capacity to achieve what we propose, our appreciation of how big our vision is, and our awareness of what we will need to achieve it. 
5. In order for our visions to take hold, we must articulate them simply and clearly, and then we must repeat them with conviction.  We may begin to think we are sounding like a broken record.  We must remember that people will need to hear our vision many times before it sinks in.  Finally, we need to remember that simplicity keeps our message clear and memorable.  Keep it simple, and keep repeating it. 

Our vision can enable us to motivate and inspire others to act.  True leaders understand the importance of dreaming and thinking big.  They heed Kipling’s advice to “dream and not make dreams your master and think and not make thoughts our aim.”

“Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;”

Kipling is telling us that as leaders, we must be willing to put our cause or beliefs ahead of our personal gain.  He is reminding us that true leadership requires a degree of selflessness.  It requires us to put our cause and those we lead ahead of ourselves.

When we think of selfless leaders, many great names come to mind:  Jesus; Gandhi; King; Lincoln; Mandela; Stockdale…the list goes on.  Whether we call it selfless leadership, altruistic leadership, or servant leadership, the concept is not new.  Most religious traditions extol the virtue of selflessness and the need to lead for the benefit of others.  The Bible, Torah, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, and many other religious writings are loaded with references to selflessness.  History is full of stories of selfless leaders who did the right thing simply because it was the right thing to do.  They weren’t seeking personal gain or reward.  In fact, the leaders above understood that their actions would ultimately cost them dearly. 

Lately selflessness has not been an attribute that is highly celebrated in leaders.  Today’s leaders are more often known for the size of their egos and the cults of personality that surround them.  Many leaders spend their energies focusing on their personal rewards and status, rather than focusing on the greater good of those they serve. 

Most great leaders have demonstrated some degree of selflessness.  Leadership is, after all, dependent on one’s ability to gain followers, so leaders must give others a reason to follow them.  Most of us want to follow someone in whom we believe.  We want to be part of something worthwhile and meaningful, so we follow leaders who are working for something important. 

So how do we become leaders that are more selfless?  The good news is we don’t have sacrifice to the degree that the leaders above did – no need to die or spend years in prison for our cause.  We also don’t  have to ignore our personal commitments and responsibilities.  The bad news is that it still requires a great deal of work and personal sacrifice.  The following are some simple lessons for those wishing to become more selfless.

1. Subordinate our personal feelings/needs/ego to the greater good. OK, this one is not simple.  In fact, none of these lessons are easy, but when we commit ourselves to a cause, we will often need to put the cause ahead of our personal goals.   This may mean sacrificing our pet project or sharing our strongest resources for the greater good of the organization or the team. 
2. Selflessness takes practice.  We can’t just wake up one morning and become selfless leaders.  It takes practice and discipline.  Selflessness often goes against our natural instincts for self-preservation.  It requires us to build and exercise new muscles.  We have to look for opportunities, both big and small, to practice selflessness.  
3. Don’t confuse  selflessness with a lack of will or sense of self.  Many may confuse selflessness with weakness or lack of will.  On the contrary, selfless leaders often have huge egos and wills of iron.  They know what they want.  As leaders we have to remember to keep thinking big and remaining confident, and we must know when and how to put the needs of our organization or cause first.
4. Selflessness requires leaders to understand boundaries and priorities.  If the cause is great and we believe in our ability to effect change, we should be prepared to make equally great sacrifices.  We may jeopardize a big promotion or bonus to do the right thing.  We may even put our job on the line.  We will also make smaller personal sacrifices, like missing family events or bringing the stress of work home with us.  Selfless leadership requires us to explore fully our boundaries so that when we confront choices we are prepared to make them.

Anyone can become a selfless leader.  Selfless leadership requires hard work, patience, sacrifice, and most of all love.  We must love what we do, the people we serve, and our cause.  A selfless leader’s journey is a testament to Kipling’s lines, “Or being hated don’t give way to hating, And yet not look too good nor talk too wise.”

IF—

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Most of us think of patience as a construct of time, but Kipling was addressing the broader definition – enduring difficulty and hardship while awaiting the appropriate opportunity to act.  He is also referring to the patience required to bear the nagging and sniping that often accompanies a decision to wait.

Patience is a quality often lacking among today’s leaders.  Society expects those in charge to take action quickly and decisively.  True leaders recognize that patience enables them to take stock of the situation, to understand what is required, and wait while they build the capacity to take appropriate and effective action.  Patience requires composure and character (as discussed in earlier blogs).  Societal pressures for action may cause others to criticize and condemn a leader’s perceived inaction or lack of speed.  People will first demand action.  Then they will demand results.  The greater the crisis, the greater the impatience.

By demonstrating patience, leaders reinforce the importance of focusing on the long-term outcomes.  Patience doesn’t mean ignoring the interim milestones or short-term deliverable.  It does mean keeping them in context. 

Many tasks associated with leadership require patience (e.g., strategic planning, negotiations, people development, program management, etc.).   The bigger the issue and the longer the planning horizon, the greater the patience required to remain committed.  Strategic plans, for example, typically have a long-term time horizon and address big issues that affect an organization.  It is easy for a leader to see the desired end-state and want to jump ahead without exercising the patience needed to succeed.  Leadership means understanding that patience may require sacrificing short-term glory for long-term results.

Franklin's Patience Was Critical to America's Revolutionary Victory

Patience has contributed to many great leadership successes, and impatience has led to many failures.  Benjamin Franklin’s failed negotiations with the British to avoid the American Revolution and his successful negotiation with France to support the war were both great tests of his patience.  Both required years of hard work and sacrifice, but in the end, they were instrumental in American independence.  Gandhi demonstrated extraordinary patience in working for a free and independent India.  For more than thirty years, Gandhi worked, never varying from his commitment to non-violence.  His patience resulted in a free India.

Many encouraged Franklin and Gandhi to give up or to compromise, but their patience enabled their success.  Most of us think about the patience to wait months to build the capability to take action.  Franklin and Gandhi recognized that they must work and wait for years before they could succeed. 

Gandhi Demonstrated Extraordinary Patience to Win India's Freedom

Impatience is at the heart of the international financial crisis.  Many attribute it to greed and regulatory failures.  I would argue that the root of the problem was impatience on the part of investors, consumers, lenders, and regulators.  Everyone wanted immediate results.  Too many people lacked the patience required to create long-term value.  This impatience led to disaster.

Practical Lessons:

While patience is an essential leadership attribute, it also demands skills more often associated with management.  Our ability to lead patiently requires us to manage the situations in which we find ourselves.

1. Understand the situation and establish the facts.  A patient leader understands the situation. How important is this problem?  How urgent is its resolution?  You must leverage your skills and the skills of others to gain an understanding of the situation you face. 
2. Have the patience to create your plan.  Patience requires us to know what we are going to do.  Planning is a critical management function that enables leaders to build stakeholder confidence. 
3. Build support and get the right backing.  Any good program manager knows that the best way to relieve the pressure from impatient stakeholders is having a powerful and engaged sponsor.  Enlisting and retaining the right support is a critical component to leading patiently.
4. Execute your plan on your schedule.  Having the confidence to stick to your plan is challenging.  Hold your ground when others attack you, and make sure you deliver on your commitments.
5. Be prepared to respond to the unexpected.  Nothing ever goes as planned, and the sign of a good plan and great leader is the ability to respond effectively when things go awry.  Unforeseen events are always a test of patience, and so we must have plans that enable us to respond. 

Leaders often face challenges for which we are unprepared.  Having the patience to respond deliberately may cause others to attack us.  Leadership means enduring their attacks.  To “wait and not be tired by waiting” can test even the most patient leader.

In the second couplet of Rudyard Kipling’s classic poem, ‘If-’ he challenges his readers to act with character.  He wrote:

To “trust yourself when all men doubt you” takes a great deal of courage and self-confidence.  Most of all it takes character.  Webster’s defines character as “a composite of good moral qualities typically of moral excellence and firmness blended with resolution.”  British writer and politician Thomas Babington Macaulay described it more succinctly.  He said, “The measure of a man’s character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.”   Another great description of character comes from the United States Air Force Academy Code of Conduct.  It states, “We define character as the sum of those qualities of moral excellence that stimulates a person to do the right thing, which is manifested through right and proper actions despite internal or external pressures to the contrary.”  What greater pressure is there than the doubts of others?

How we conduct ourselves defines our character.  Our actions demonstrate to the world what really matters to us.  What we say we value is often less important than what our actions reveal.  When we describe a leader as having strong character, we are acknowledging that her actions reflect her values and beliefs.  Conversely, a leader demonstrates weak character when she says one thing and does another, or she acts in ways that don’t convey a consistent message about who she is.

Strong character comes from knowing and trusting oneself.  It is an essential attribute for earning and maintaining the trust of those we lead.  Character guides us to do what we know is right.  The more we demonstrate the strength of our character – by ensuring that our words and deeds are consistent with our beliefs and values – the stronger that trust grows.  Character is not moral superiority or sanctimony.  It’s about doing what we believe is right regardless of the opinion of others. 

Character also means having the confidence to accept the doubts of others.  It means being open and curious to understand fully what is causing their reservations.  When Kipling wrote, “make allowance for their doubting too,” he was advising his readers to seek to understand the source of others’ “doubting.”  When colleagues express misgivings about our actions or decisions, they are giving us the opportunity for self-examination. 

It is important to remember that doubt is neither good nor bad.  In some cases, doubt may simply reveal that that we are challenging the status quo.  In other cases, it may reveal that we are doing something contrary to our core beliefs.  Doubt sometimes exposes conflict between two or more core beliefs or values.  This is not uncommon.  For example, a leader may believe strongly in maintaining an open and honest work environment, yet he may be legally constrained about what information he can share with employees.  His values are in conflict, and he must choose what is most important. 

Strong character requires emotional maturity.  “Making allowance” for the doubts of others doesn’t mean we simply acquiesce to their way of thinking.  Rather, it allows us to use their misgivings as a catalyst for increased awareness and choice.  If we find that our actions are consistent with our beliefs and values, we can proceed with renewed confidence.  If on the other hand, our self-examination reveals that our actions violate our beliefs or values, we can alter our actions.  Changing our position can be one of the greatest tests of our character. 

Leading with character goes beyond simply having character.  Our ability to lead is in large part based on our ability to instill trust in others.  Those we lead want and need to trust us.  And to trust us, they must know us.  That means allowing them to get close.  It means sharing and exposing our beliefs and values.  Leading with character requires that we make ourselves vulnerable.  We are in essence giving others insight into our souls.  This can very uncomfortable, especially for those who have not fully explored their beliefs.

In an earlier blog post (The “If 16” Leadership Framework, 1/6/2001), I wrote about the importance of knowing who we are and what we believe.  Unfortunately, the process of fully knowing oneself is difficult, if not impossible.  Even the most self-aware are unable to articulate a complete inventory of their beliefs.  It is an ongoing process of self-discovery.  Like leadership, our character will mature and evolve as we grow and learn. 

Everyone faces doubt. Self-doubt is among the most common and destructive.  We regularly take on responsibilities for which we are ill prepared, and these situations can cause uncertainty and self-doubt.  Character, our moral fiber, enables us to trust ourselves even in the face of self-doubt.

Of course, those we lead will also face self-doubt.  As leaders, we must help thoem to trust themselves.  When we challenge others to step up to a new opportunity, they will likely make mistakes as they learn.  Their failures have the potential to erode confidence and create self-doubt.  Effective leaders recognize this risk and take steps to restore confidence and trust after a failure.

How do we build and demonstrate a strong character?  Here are five steps that one can take to begin the process.

1. Decide that character matters.  The simple act of making character important will raise your awareness of whether your actions are in synch with your beliefs.
2. Take time to inventory and examine your beliefs and values.  Your beliefs and values are your character’s foundation.  The process of fully understanding them is unending, so get started now!
3. Share your beliefs and values.  Leading with character means being open and explicit about what truly matters.  This means talking about your personal beliefs, your organization’s beliefs and what they mean to you.
4. Test your actions and decisions. Critical self-examination will help us maintain alignment between our actions and our beliefs and values. 
5. Have the character to act on your self-examination.  It takes character to stay the course when “all men doubt you.”  It also takes character to change your position.  Leadership demands that we be able to do both as the situation dictates.       

Leaders trust themselves.  They also encourage others to trust.  Being a leader invariably means others will doubt us.  We may even share their doubt.  Success in the face of doubt depends on our ability to remain true to our principles and beliefs.  Failures will occur, and we will make mistakes.  Character is not about perfection.  It is about striving to seek the wisdom to know what is right and having the conviction to do it regardless of the opinion of others.

Washington’s Composure Turned Defeat into Victory.

Leaders understand that crisis is inevitable.  More than that, leaders know that crisis is a major driver of change, and change is essential to leadership.  Leaders also understand that crisis often leads to panic, and panic can be devastating.  In his poem ‘If-’, Rudyard Kipling offers this challenge:  

“If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;”

Kipling’s first line from ‘If-’ encourages his readers to prepare for crisis.  He also point out that other won’t prepare.  “They will lose their head.”  Finally, he points out that blame is an inevitable part of panic, and every leader understands that being a leader means that the blame will be directed at them.

Composure, the ability to remain calm and self-possessed, was appropriately first of the attributes described by Kipling, because he recognized that our ability to maintain composure – to ‘keep your head’ – is essential to leadership.  Our ability to transform a crisis into positive action will be a major determinate in our success as a leader. 

Julius Erving’s On-Court Composure

To understand composure, we must better understand its opposite – panic.  What is panic?  For an individual, Webster’s defines it as “a sudden overpowering fright.”  For a group or organization the sensation is similar, but on a larger scale.  Again Webster’s definition is helpful: “a sudden unreasoning terror often accompanied by mass flight.”  What causes one individual’s “fright” to become a large-scale panic?  There are numerous causes, including a lack of information, conflicting information, imminent danger, unanticipated adversity, etc.  Some crises we encounter will become panics; however, as leaders, we must never allow ourselves to panic.  How many crises have turned to panic or even disaster because a would-be leader failed to keep his head? The genesis of a crisis can be a small and immaterial mistake, but somehow the mistake spins out of control and becomes a panic.

Why do some individuals keep their head “when all about them are losing theirs…?”  What enables others to maintain composure?  Are some people naturally more composed than others?  Obviously, some people are more volatile and are not well suited for dealing with panic and crisis.  That doesn’t mean they are not capable to be outstanding leaders. 

What role does a leader play in controlling panic?  Primarily, the leader must assess the situation and share information in a clear and concise way.  Strong leaders remain calm and composed.  They demonstrate that he or she is in control.  They also exude a positive but realistic attitude.

Go to any newspaper archive and scan the headlines for any period of time, paying close attention to the political or business scandals reported.  What could the executives who were responsible for the scandals have done differently? If you want to bring this closer to home, consider the last major failure within your organization.  There were probably numerous opportunities for someone to lead by demonstrate composure.  Often all it takes to establish control is for one leader to stand up and take control.  It can be as easy as saying, “Stop! What are we doing?”   Taking stock of the situation and recognizing the right thing to do is the first step towards regaining control and averting panic. 

Four Steps to Demonstrate Composure in a Crisis

Guiliani’s Composure Restores Hope on 9-11

• Take Control by Taking Accountability.  Remember, you’re the boss.  Let people know that you are accountable and are committed resolve the crisis.
• Respond Decisively.  If you have good contingency plans, use them.  If not, take action to “stop the bleeding.”  Empower people to act and ask for help when you need it.
• Remain Visible.  You may be in perfect control, but if your people don’t see you they may assume you are as panicked as they are.
• Project A Positive Attitude.  You can become the calming influence that will enable others to regain their composure.  The more calm heads you have working on a problem the better the solution.

 Click Here To Assess Your Leadership Composure ]]> http://ifyouwilllead.net/2010/01/12/keeping-your-head-leading-with-composure/feed/ 3 http://ifyouwilllead.net/2010/01/06/the-if-16-leadership-framework/ http://ifyouwilllead.net/2010/01/06/the-if-16-leadership-framework/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:20:05 +0000 wdmoran http://ifyouwilllead.net/?p=42 In December, I posed two questions in this blog.  First, “What leadership advice could a 21^st-century leader, possibly get (or want) from a 19^th-century poem?” and “What can an Information Age leader learn from a Victorian Age poem?”  That post began to explore the relevance of Kipling’s ‘If-’ for today’s leaders.  ‘If-’ describes a path leaders may choose to follow.  Each of the poem’s sixteen couplets describes an essential leadership attribute. 

By incorporating the concepts of awareness and choice, they form a comprehensive leadership framework that I call the “If 16.”©  The framework includes the following sixteen leadership attributes: 

1. Composure – The Power to Keep Your Head
2. Character – The Wisdom to Know and Trust Yourself
3. Patience – The Strength to Endure
4. Selflessness – The Ability to Put Your Cause and Beliefs Ahead of Yourself
5. Vision – The Power of Having and Sharing a Dream
6. Self-Efficacy – The Confidence to Gain from Triumph and Disaster
7. Integrity – The Wisdom to Know the Truth and the Strength to Defend It
8. Resilience – The Ability to Bounce Back from Adversity
9. Boldness – The Ability to See and Seize Opportunities
10. Accountability – The Will to Take Ownership Regardless of the Outcome
11. Courage – The Ability to Face the Dangers When They Become Real
12. Stamina – The Will to Hold On When You Have Nothing Left
13. Authenticity – The Resolve Always to Be Yourself
14. Inspiration – The Ability to Connect With and Motivate Friends and Foes
15. Enthusiasm – The Energy to Fill Every Minute
16. Ambition – The Will to Make the World What You Want It to Be

Like awareness and choice, these are very simple words and concepts.  The difficulty comes when we decide to put them to use.  Notice that the primary focus of these attributes is on the leader rather than those we lead.  Followers are essential to leadership, but becoming a leader starts with the leader. 

Before we can lead others, we must know ourselves.  Before we can challenge others, we must challenge ourselves.  Before we can motivate others, we must first be motivated.  This idea of focusing on oneself first seems to run counter to many leadership theories, but it has ancient roots.  In the sixth century B.C., Lao Tzu wrote, “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”  Leaders understand that self-awareness precedes self-mastery, and both precede leading others.

No one is born with the ability to be a leader.  Throughout our leadership journeys, we gain experience and perspective, which allow us to grow and learn.  But growing and learning are not certain.  They depend on awareness and choice.  This requires critical self-examination and a rigorous regular inventory of our skills.  Knowing the attributes we possess helps us expose those we lack. 

By understanding and applying The If 16 Leadership Framework©, we can become the powerful and effective leaders we are capable of being.  Over the next eight weeks, I will explore the “If 16” attributes in more detail.

Why is that?  What happens to all that passion?  I believe the answer lies in a failure to find balance in life – a failure to balance ambition and patience.  The problem is that most of us fail to recognize how powerful ambition is.  Ambition is the fuel that drives us.  It can also make us impatient, and impatience can blind us to the opportunities and challenges we confront. 

Long-term success requires a strong foundation.  Most of us start our careers with basic foundational components –our gifts and talents, our education, and our experiences.  How do we improve what we have while developing and acquiring what we lack?  Experience!  Through trial and error, we learn the lessons that establish and solidify our foundation.  Failure to learn these lessons early in our careers can have devastating implications later.  Mistakes we make at age twenty-five teach important lessons.  At forty, the same mistakes end careers. 

What can we, as leaders, do to help create balance?  How can we feed and nurture ambition through patient and deliberate development? 

• Invest time and energy to understand what motivates those we lead.  This seems obvious, but one of the most common complaints about managers is our failure to understand the unique needs and ambitions of those we lead.  This understanding also gives us the ability to learn the strengths and weakness of those we lead.  This in turn enables us to provide the growth opportunities and experiences that will serve them best.
• Be honest about what it takes to progress in your organization.  My first real job was with a “Baby Bell.”  It was less than four years after the breakup of the Bell System.  The entire industry was in flux.  Promotions were non-existent.  I quickly became frustrated, because my ambitions were out of alignment with the reality of our corporate culture.  This frustration led to a desire to leave.  An honest assessment of the opportunities would have given me the ability to make informed career decisions.  It would have built trust and kept me engaged.  How can candid conversations keep those we lead fully engaged?
• Help people find what motivates and inspires them.  Many people entering the workforce are still searching for what motivates and inspires them.  As leaders, we have the opportunity to leverage passion and expose enthusiasm.  Create opportunities for new employees to use different skills.  Help them find what they like and what they don’t. 
• Encourage learning by rewarding risk taking and appreciating the lessons in failure.  Every teacher knows that students will learn more from failure than success.  The challenge lies in helping them see the lessons rather than focusing on the failure.  Consider how your reward system might be punishing failures rather than encouraging risk taking and learning.
• Create your own legends.  Every organization has a wunderkind – the person whose meteoric career becomes the goal for every new hire.  Most legends are a combination of fact and fiction.  Fact, Sergey Brin and Larry Page dropped out of college, founded Google, and became billionaires.  Fiction, dropping out of college is a proven path to career success.  For every superstar countless others failed.  As a leader, we can make legends out of those who follow a more traditional path to success.  
• Make mentoring a key part of your leadership development.  One of the best ways to demonstrate your commitment is by investing your time and attention.  Mentoring exposes the mentee to the realities of leadership.  It also gives them a forum to voice their ideas.

Nothing we can do can diminish the ambition of young people starting their careers, nor would we want to.  Personally, I am always looking for ways to rekindle my own passion.  Part of the way I do that is by working with students and young professionals.  Their passion and ambition can be contagious and energizing.  Our challenge is to help them temper this ambition with a healthy dose of patience.  Striking the right balance is the best path to realizing their potential.