11 1/2 Lessons on Leadership: Part I
A born leader. What does that mean? Are leaders only born or can someone be taught to be a good leader?
Through more than 25 years with Alltech (a global leader in animal health and nutrition), with over a million miles on Delta Air Lines last year alone, I have learned a great deal about good leadership and the attributes of such a leader. Of course, there are hundreds of factors, but I believe you can distill them down to 11 ½ (yes, that last half is important!) leadership lessons.
Lesson 1: Think BIG!
Are you on an antelope hunt or a mouse chase? A lion knows it will only succeed in one of the four hunts it sets out on, so it saves its energy to chase big animals such as antelope. It’s not that it won’t eat a mouse that walks in front of it, but it doesn’t plan on that being its main source of nutrition. The same rule is important with goal setting. Know that it rarely takes much more effort to chase a big goal than it does a small one. So why chase small goals? Don’t waste time, energy and resources on the small stuff. Identify your antelopes, ignore mice and make sure you plan your day around hunting down your antelopes.
Bigger goals are also easier and simpler to deliver. So simplify. Alexander the Great did this when he was confronted with the Gordian Knot. It was foretold that he who opened the knot would rule Asia. The challenge was that the knot had no beginning and no end, and so it appeared as though there was no way to untie it. Frustrated, Alexander withdrew his sword and sliced the rope in half. This is a great metaphor not only for obvious obstacles such as red tape and bureaucracy, but for any situation in which many small obstacles get in the way of your big goals.
Lesson 2: Look Big: There is a whole world out there
With ever-improving communications and transportation options, we really can say, “It’s a small world.” Your available market is now the whole world. Even start-up companies are now “born global.” Such firms do not view the world with borders, but develop strategies that can be implemented across many locations and in multiple countries simultaneously.
They go where other companies don’t and they do what other companies won’t. They do it early and they do it first. They realize that in today’s business world companies don’t have time to go slowly. Technologies and ideas will be copied and replicated very quickly by nimble competitors, and if they build momentum, they will compete with you back in your own home market. So get yourself a passport and travel. Go out and see the world firsthand. Learn about other cultures; learn their language. Move there! A good leader should have an understanding of the world and how multiple cultures interact and relate.
Lesson 3: Create your culture
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “A man without a smiling face must never open a shop.” I take this to mean that work should be fun. Yes, it’s work and it will often feel as such, but face the day with optimism and enthusiasm and you will get a whole lot more out of it. A successful corporate culture inspires the team—whether large or small—to invest themselves in the success of the business.
The company I work for is full of people who work hard and play hard. They have fun in their work, but there is also an esprit de corps that connects hundreds of employees across more than a hundred countries. Successful leaders incorporate these feelings into their corporate culture.
Lesson 4: Choose your battleground
Take a lesson from Napoleon: Never fight your battle on ground where your army is at a disadvantage. Instead, identify your preferred battleground and meet your opponent there. In business, your battleground is where your product or service is strongest. Define that space, and actively push your competitors to compete in this arena.
Apple has done this again and again. They took the battleground of portable music (which was dominated by Sony Walkman) and redefined it from music you own in a particular format to any music you can download. They took the battleground of portable phones and redefined it as mobile communications, including a phone, apps, camera and music. They took the battleground of portable electronics and defined a space between phones and laptops. And now they have taken the battleground of watches as portable time-keeping devices and redefined it as portable communications devices. Apple continues to create the next new thing: It imagines it, creates it and then with beautiful designs in hardware and packaging instills in all of us the desire to have it.
You can do the same in your business by defining your battleground. Doing so will help your team achieve success.
Lesson 5: Communicate with your Customer
When communicating with your customer about a new technology or service, there are five principle messages, and the order of communication is the key to success. The easy way to remember them is as the Five Cs: Corporate, Clarity, Cost-effective, Confidence and Consultative. Entire books could be written on any one of these topics, but here’s a quick summary:
Corporate. Why should the customer choose your company? What is it about your company that makes the customer want to give you their business and feel confident that they made the right choice? Customer trust in your company is essential, especially when competitors enter your market. This is especially true with innovations, when larger and/or better-known competitors enter the market.
Clarity. Identify what’s number one in importance to your customer (and remember, they choose, not you!). Then create a phrase—even just two or three words—that describes what is most important to your customer and use it to keep your focus clear.
Cost-effective. When your customer asks you what the price of your product or service is, what do you say? Don’t dodge the question—answer with specific information about what it is going to cost, but never give a cost without immediately giving the value of the benefit.
Confidence. Customers are frequently fearful of innovations because their experience is that new things are often hard to implement and don’t work as intended. These are legitimate concerns, so be prepared to respect and allay those fears.
Consultative. Customers often need more than just a product. There may be other non-product or service options that can help them make more money, which could involve using your contacts, your knowledge or your network. Ask them how you might help them outside of your product/service and you might be surprised by the answer.
Originally an approach to customer communications, the Five Cs not only work when dealing with new products and building customer relationships, but can be used to strengthen your leadership skills as well.
