You Are Here!

I was scanning through television stations last evening and in the process stopped on a C-SPAN. This is not a network that I regularly watch but the person on the screen caught my attention. It was General David Petraeus; Commander of US Central Command. I have been a fan of General Petraeus since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq when news reports of his economic development strategies in the Northern territory became public. General Petraeus understood at that time that his "military" success with the Kurds would depend on putting the local men to work more than his troop's ability to patrol and control militarily.

Since then, General Petraeus has been promoted several times and is now responsible for all American Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. What caught me during the General's address to the Marine Corp University was his understanding of the importance of context in leadership. His intimate and realistic assessment of each situation in which his troops find themselves is an important factor in his success as a leader.

During the audience questions the General offered a phrase that every leader should keep in the forefront, "trapped by experience." Because we all look for patterns in our past to guide our current and future actions we can quickly become trapped in what we know, ignoring the context in which our leadership is demonstrated. In every leadership situation look for the markers that will tell you the context in which you are operating. Understanding leadership context is much like the maps you encounter as you tour a theme park. Each one of those maps has an ever present and critical point of reference; You Are Here! Knowing and appreciating the context in which your leadership is demonstrated is critical to your success and the success of those you lead.

Leadership At Every Level of Healthcare Reform

Last week I worked with two of our health care clients. Work in this industry segment is always interesting but even more so now in the current climate of debate over health care reform. I was struck by the complexity of our health care system and regardless of any political leanings; reform of this system will be painful and tedious.

It occurred to me after listening to the experts, that the ability of any individual or organization (public or private) to write rules that cover every eventuality in the provision of health care, is impossible. Consequently, leadership will be required at every level of the health care system in order for any change to work. Leaders throughout the system must be empowered to lead their respective areas, solve problems and make decisions based principles not based on rules.

When I teach leadership I always begin with concepts and principles even though most students want step by step detail and a list of specific leadership behaviors. I start with principles and concepts because it is impossible to provide steps for every leadership situation. However if a leader has a conceptual framework to draw on, they can handle virtually any situation even in the absence of detailed instructions. This conceptual approach however requires the articulation of the principles so leaders can act and there in lies the challenge for health care reform.

Will the reformers craft the principles upon which they want reform to take place and then equip the leaders to make the changes those principles dictate? Or alternatively, will the reformers penchant for control devolve health care changes to an endless itemization of dos and don'ts that boggle the mind and cripple the system? Stay tuned.

Leadership is Part of Any Successful Infrastructure

This past week there has been a great deal in the news about the plans to overhaul the financial regulatory system. Certainly the events of the past year punctuated by the anniversary of the Lehman collapse show that there is ample room for improvement in the financial regulatory system.

The thing I found missing from the various speeches and news reports was the subject of leadership. It has long been my belief that the economic collapse was more a leadership problem than a regulatory one. In saying that I don't want to minimize the pressure that leaders experience in the operation of the financial firms and the regulatory system. However something kept these leaders from standing up and calling a halt to the crazed practices that somehow became the norm.

As a former banker my simple but (now appears correct) belief was that the only way to make more money in banking (a mature industry) is to take more risk. That risk has many forms that no regulation or regulator could adequately reign in. All the more reason that organizational leaders (not just banking leaders) need to demonstrate the strength of character necessary bridle averice.

So, it seems only logical that part of the reform we should advocate includes character and leadership development that will equip leaders to "regulate" their own organizations. It will not be possible to provide a system of regulation that will overcome weakness in leadership because at their heart the challenges we face are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership.

Whew! Mom Likes My Book

I am in Sun Valley, Idaho this weekend with our entire family to celebrate my mother's birthday. The weather is fantastic, cool mountain mornings mixed in the afternoons with a sun losings its summer intensity.

Last night we were just finishing up dinner and I was sitting next to my mom, she leaned over and quietly said, "I really like your book, it is very good."It had not occurred to me how important it was to hear those words from someone I care so much about.

Just like leaders who have great influence over their team members my mom shared and important supporting comment at just the right time. Her simple words of endorsement provided energy to me. Leaders have the same opportunity to provide caring words that instill hope and courage in their team members.

Is the Model the Answer or the Question

I have never been confident at math. This may sound strange coming from someone with seventeen years experience in the banking industry. Especially when those years included seven years in loan portfolio risk management. Nonetheless, I have never been confident with math. Perhaps that's the reason I don't like formulas for leadership.

Over the past few years, countless books and articles have appeared espousing formulas for leadership success. There is nothing wrong conceptually with the idea of leadership having certain elements but when those elements are boiled down into equations based on best practice research I become very suspect.

For this reason the character of leadership model and its seven elements (faith, justice, temperance, hope, wisdom, love and courage) is more a question about the connection between character and leadership; rather than the answer. I do believe the model we uncovered is comprehensive enough to encompass all that a leader needs to be, but I also believe it to be flexible enough to be tailored to specific situations.

In a recent discussion in one of my LinkedIn groups someone proposed that the central element of the model should be love, not faith as we proposed. The argument was a good one and for that organization and that individual, a rearrangement of the elements could be in order.

My hope with the book is to engage the leadership community (whatever that is) in the discussion of character and leadership because from my point of view the challenges we face are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership.

Consulting to Cross-Stitch

I had a marvelous spectrum of reactions to the book this week. In the process of getting the word out about the release of The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age I sent an e-mail to my former bank colleagues. Immediately after sending that note my phone rang and it was one of my former colleagues letting me know how excited he was to see the re-entry of character in leadership discussions. We chatted about our mutual interest and even talked in general terms about consulting engagements.

After finishing that call, the phone rang again and this time the caller was a woman who wanted to acquire the list of character traits I had mentioned during a television interview earlier in the week. I was happy to point her to www.characterofleaderhip.com as a good source for the information she sought. She went on to tell me that she wanted the list so she could put them in a cross-stitch for her grand children.

I was stunned that in less than 15 minutes there was a range of validation for the character model that ran from consulting to cross-stitch. Although it is dangerous to use a sample of two to reach a conclusion, I am heartened that our new book will energize a conversation about character in leadership.

The Root Cause of Our Challenges

On Monday, I appeared on KTVB (Boise's local NBC affiliate) to announce the release of the book and to talk about the root cause of the many challenges we face today. (click here to watch the interview http://www.ktvb.com/news/business/itsyour/ ) My contention is that the challenges we face today are not economic, environmental, social or legal; they are challenges of character and leadership.

In the past few months as I have been sharing this notion with people I have yet to have anyone disagree with me. Of course, if this proposition is true then a significant portion of our organizational and national energy should be flowing into the understanding and development of both character and leadership.

The focus of that energy is why we released The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age. I truly hope that the model spurs contemplation of character and its relationship with leadership and helps organizations grow and prosper.