Positive Leadership: The Importance of Being a Role Model

“Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

Rita F. Pierson, a professional educator since 1972, taught elementary school, junior high and special education. She was a counsellor, a testing coordinator and an assistant principal. In each of these roles, she brought a special energy to the role -- a desire to get to know her students, show them how much they matter and support them in their growth, even if it was modest.

Positive Leadership: The Importance of Being a Role Model

Positive Leadership: Being a Role Model

As we head into another year of March Madness, remember that whether you know it or not, little eyes are watching you and little minds want to be just like you.

What kind of a role model are you going to be for them? 

NCAA legend, the late Coach John Wooden shares some thought provoking words in this video directed by Spike Lee.

 

This Little Chap Who Follows Me

A careful man I want to be.

A little fellow follows me.

I do not dare go astray

For fear he’ll go the self-same way.

I cannot once escape his eyes.

Whate’er he sees me do, he tries.

Like ME he says he’s going to be-

That little chap who follows me.

I must remember as I go

Through summer suns and winter snow,

I am building for the years to be-

That little chap who follows me.

Positive Leadership: Being a Role Model

Positive Leadership: The Power of Positive Thinking

Lindsey Vonn's Aha! Moment: The Power of Positive Thinking

As told to Jessica Silvester

From the February 2012 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

‘After very different encounters with two childhood role models, the Olympic gold medallist skier learned the value of a winning attitude.

One weekend when I was 9, two of my idols from the U.S. Ski Team came to sign autographs at the ski shop in my Minnesota hometown. When I heard about the event, I couldn't believe I'd have the chance to see them in person—on TV, they seemed like superheroes.

Picabo Street, the downhill champion, appeared at the store first, and she was amazing. "Keep following your dreams," she told me. With those simple words, she made the idea of being an Olympian seem attainable. She signed a poster for me that I still have.

But the next day I went back to meet my other idol, who shall remain anonymous. I arrived at the tail end of her signing, and when I asked for an autograph, she coldly said no and walked away. I was crushed. My parents tried to console me, saying, "She's probably stressed. She must have had a bad day. Try not to think about it." But as an impressionable kid, I couldn't stop thinking about it. After having these opposite experiences—one so inspiring, one devastating - I realised what a difference your attitude can make.

That moment stayed with me. When kids recognize me now, whether they want an autograph, a high five, or to ask me my favourite colour, I never say no. If I'm at an event like the meet and greet I did last year in Vail, which lasted about three hours in ten-degree weather, I don't focus on the fact that I'm freezing. I remember that if you stay upbeat, it can have a huge impact on those around you.

I make the effort to stay positive in other areas of my life, too. If one of my friends gets hurt in a relationship, I try to point out something she can learn from it (although you'd have to ask my friends if I'm actually helping). And when I'm training with the U.S. Ski Team and feeling exhausted, I still try to give people support. Of course, I have my moments. But it's usually easier and more fun to be positive than it is to be negative—and it has served me well.

In November, while I was having lunch with students from the Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy, a 16-year-old boy named Parker politely asked if I would come to his homecoming dance that Friday night. I couldn't say no. And then there I was, dancing and having fun, after missing my own high school homecoming because I was busy traveling and skiing. Parker was a great date—and I was so glad I had said yes.’

Positive Leadership: The Power of Positive Thinking

Treating Customers and Employees Well

Most of the U.S. airline industry is under assault from skyrocketing fuel prices and a sluggish economy, but the message that Southwest Airlines president Colleen Barrett brought to the recent Wharton Leadership Conference was about the importance of treating employees and customers well. 

Innovative leaders such as Southwest chairman Herb Kelleher and smart management of non-human resources -- especially Southwest's fuel purchasing hedges that have saved the company more than $2 billion -- have certainly helped the airline post profits for 35 consecutive years. But the foundation for all that, she said, has been making the satisfaction of employees and customers the highest priority.

Treating Customers and Employees Well

Military Leadership as a Role Model for Business Leadership

Military service—particularly service in the crucible of combat—is exceptionally effective at developing leaders. Why? It's nurture, not nature.

First, in all services, military leadership qualities are formed in a progressive and sequential series of carefully planned training, educational, and experiential events—far more time-consuming and expensive than similar training in industry or government. Secondly, military leaders tend to hold high levels of responsibility and authority at low levels of our organisations. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, military leadership is based on a concept of duty, service, and self-sacrifice; soldiers take an oath to that effect.

Soldiers view their obligations to followers as a moral responsibility, defining leadership as placing follower needs before those of the leader, and this value priority is taught to junior leaders. Military leadership extends to caring for the families of soldiers, sailors and airmen, especially when service members are deployed.

When serving in crisis conditions where leadership influences the physical well being or survival of both the leader and the led—in extremis contexts—transactional sources of motivation (e.g. pay, rewards, or threat of punishment) become insufficient. Why should a person be motivated by rewards when he might not live to enjoy them? Why would a person fear administrative punishment when compliance might lead to injury or death? Soldiers in such circumstances must be led in ways that inspire, rather than require, trust and confidence. When followers have trust and confidence in a charismatic leader, they are transformed into willing, rather than merely compliant, agents. 

In the language of leadership theorists, such influence is termed transformational leadership, and it is the dominant style of military leaders.

Contrast the military leader value set reflecting service to the one that currently exists in some businesses. Are we likely to see business leaders placing the well-being of their shareholders and employees above their own – in compensation discussions for instance? The quantity of compensation awarded to the ceo of Marks and Spencer for instance isn't as relevant as the message to followers that, when times were tough, the leader puts his personal well being ahead of theirs.

Such perceptions of a military leader in combat would render that leader mistrusted and ineffective in the eyes of soldiers forever. Why should business leaders expect anything else on the part of people desperate about the loss of their equity or employment or lifestyles? The current economic environment, partly caused by a crisis of self-service leadership, has created belt-tightening reminiscent of a world war, with budgets slashed, travel funding restricted, training programmes cut, personnel layoffs, and other draconian, cash-saving measures in place. 

CEOs have to start leading like generals—even if that means living a lifestyle in common with their troops. The best leadership—whether in peacetime or war—is borne as a conscientious obligation to serve.

In many business environs it is difficult to inculcate a value set that makes leaders servants to their followers. In contrast, leaders who have operated in the crucibles common to military and other dangerous public service occupations tend to hold such values. Tie selflessness with the adaptive capacity, innovation, and flexibility demanded by dangerous contexts, and one can see the value of military leadership as a model for leaders in the private sector.

In your own development as a leader, have you found value in putting other people first? Did it seem out of place in competitive, results-oriented businesses? Did it powerfully influence people, or did it merely suggest weakness? And have you had role models in business that you see as effective because of their servant leader orientation?

Military Leadership as a Role Model for Business Leadership

The Dutch Soccer Team and Personal Development

Many people are holding back their personal development by ignoring an important step – accepting responsibility for their actions.

A great example of this has been the reaction of the Dutch to their loss in the World Cup final last Sunday. 

As a nation, they have a legacy of playing inspirational, total football. But someone took the decision that this would not work against Spain so they took a different approach. They were brutal, frequently on the wrong side of the line that separates aggressive from illegal. Because the referee stopped them, they have turned on him as the reason for their loss. The Dutch players, management team an press all blame the referee, Howard Webb, for their loss.  Yet an objective analysis showed that far from being at fault, Webb got well over 80% of his decisions right.

The only Dutchman to openly criticise his country’s approach is Johan Cruyff who in fact blamed Webb for being too lenient, pointing out that Holland could, and perhaps should, have been down to nine players by half time. As a side issue, if Webb had done that, people would have criticised him for ruining the final!

Instead of blaming others, the Dutch players and managers should take a long hard look at themselves and accept responsibility for their decision to play as they did, and for the consequences.

It is easy when we are under pressure to perform, to change winning tactics and to blame others if we fail. For the Dutch football team, there is no greater pressure than playing in a World Cup final. They could turn themselves into admirable role models if they were to take a deep breath, admit that they were wrong and accept responsibility for the consequences of losing.

Of course, equally dangerous are those people who accept responsibility for everything, not realising when it’s just not “their stuff”.

If you look at the word “responsibility”, you can break it down into” response” and “ability”: the ability to respond. If something isn’t working, someone involved has to have the ability to respond and to try something else. If instead, you do more of what isn’t working, you get more failure.

Shame nobody from the Dutch side realised that last Sunday!

The Dutch Soccer Team and Personal Development

The Importance of Role Models

Just about everyone knows that good role models are important for a child's development, but have you ever thought about why this is true?

Our work emphasises the importance of visualisation in being able to perform under pressure, because we've learned that our mental images, for the most part, are what determine our reality. In other words, the way we see ourselves and the world is what decides how we will behave, and how we behave determines, to a very great extent, what will happen to us.

Role models serve as living, breathing mental images that help us visualise the way we'd like to live. 

What kinds of role models are best? There is no question about it - people we can actually get to know. You see, while it's helpful to read about an admirable person in a book or magazine, watch an inspiring life story in the movies, or watch successful people on TV, it is much more powerful when we can actually interact with someone who shows us possibilities for ourselves.

When we can do so on a daily or regular basis, as we do with parents, grandparents, teachers and so on, this has the most powerful impact of all. And remember parents, your children will learn far more from what you do than from what you say. The best role models only need to set a good example and let the children find the rest out for themselves. 

The Importance of Role Models

Excellence: Don't Fear Failure

Tom Peters tells a story about a man who was unafraid to fail, and why that makes him an excellent role model:

Excellence: Don't Fear Failure

Leadership Means Acting as a Role Model

‘AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Scandal-hit Tiger Woods has failed to live up to expectations as a role model, Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne said on Wednesday.

In an unexpected departure from the southern reserve Payne usually displays at his pre-U.S. Masters news conferences, he said one of the world's most marketable sportsmen would be judged in the future by the sincerity of his efforts to change.

"Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children," said Payne.

"It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here, it is the fact he disappointed all of us and more importantly our kids and our grand kids."

The disgraced Woods is returning to professional golf this week after a break of nearly five months, following startling revelations he had had a string of extra-marital affairs.

"Is there a way forward? I hope yes," Payne said. "I think yes. But certainly his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change.

"I hope he now realises that every kid he passes on the course wants his swing but would settle for his smile."

World number one Woods, whose golfing dominance has placed him in the pantheon of sporting greats since he turned professional in 1996, had his squeaky-clean image ripped apart after he crashed his car in the middle of the night in November.

In a highly anticipated news conference at Augusta on Monday, he took full responsibility for the marital infidelities which led to his fall from grace and he pledged to be more respectful of the game.

"He forgot in the process to remember that with fame and fortune comes responsibility, not invisibility," Payne said. "I hope he can come to understand that life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who bring joy to the lives of other people.

"We at Augusta hope and pray our great champion will begin his new life here tomorrow in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner but this time with a significant difference from the past."

Woods, a four-times champion at Augusta, is scheduled to tee off in the penultimate group in Thursday's opening round with fellow American Matt Kuchar and South Korean KJ Choi.’ 

Leadership Means Acting as a Role Model

Leadership Lessons from India

With the Indian economy predicted to grow by 7.5 percent this year, experts say it could be time for Western CEOs to learn some lessons from their Indian counterparts. While Western economies continue to stutter, a report forecasts India will soon return to the high-growth trajectory it enjoyed before the crisis. At the same time, new research published recently in the Harvard Business Review shows the heads of India's biggest companies have a very different approach to leadership from Western bosses.

These are some of the key differences between Indian and Western bosses:

• Indian leaders lead with a sense of social purpose.
• Indian firms invest an enormous amount in their employees' training and development, whereas U.S. firms have largely abandoned investing in employees, seeing it as a waste if they leave the business.
• Indian bosses place far less emphasis on shareholders than is typical at Western businesses. As a result they're more able to take a long-term view.
• U.S. companies often think about strategy in terms of chasing customers or pursuing market opportunities, but Indian firms will more often start by identifying their strengths, identifying their customers' needs, and then try to meet those needs.
• Indian leaders see themselves first and foremost as being a personal role model for their employees.

For more, see - http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/03/05/india.leadership.lessons/

Leadership Lessons from India

We are entitled to better from those who would be superior

'Entitlement means that you get – or get off with – something simply because of who you are.... We are all too sadly familiar with the sense of entitlement felt by many MPs..... They saw themselves as deserving leaders, not dutiful servants..... We, the “different type of people” in the crowded end of life’s train, admire our leaders, great sportsmen and celebrities. But we support them on the implicit understanding that they keep their end of the deal. We will look up so long as they don’t look down. We will offer respect so long as their standards of behaviour are as high as our own. It’s little enough to ask – and we’re entitled.'
Colette Douglas Home, The Herald, 23 February 2010

We are entitled to better from those who would be superior

Corporate Role Models Re-Emphasise Values and Ethics

It's hard to find many bright spots in the increasingly gloomy economy, but they're out there.

Among big companies, IBM and Procter & Gamble are bright spots. IBM's earnings have beaten forecasts; P&G has a robust business and has already integrated its huge Gillette acquisition relatively seamlessly. Why are these and select other companies faring well today? Because they made important changes well before the recession hit full force. This includes, for these two companies, a re-emphasis on values and ethics. This downturn's survivors will be the role models for a new kind of business practice that is more socially responsible, not as an add-on or after-thought but as a first thought at the core of its business operations.

Seeking role models - not just benchmarks - is one way to find an upside in the downturn. It's counterintuitive, because downward spirals or losing streaks tend to push people and companies to withdraw and become insular - like individual depression that might cause people to stay in bed rather than face the world. With a little extra time, or as a pause between bouts of hard work, we can look at positive models, current or historical, to find inspiration.

A time of cynicism and mistrust can be made brighter by focusing on heroes. And because every story of success is also a story about persistence despite obstacles, the lessons can be applied to one's own situation, as a source of inspiration and practical tips. One of the things that most heroes, both top leaders and individuals, have in common is their feeling of obligation to leave a positive mark on the world. They do not stop feeling it just because the going suddenly got tough. This stimulates their creativity, produces innovations that turn out to be valuable in downturns, and motivates effort, no matter what. Their work matters. Think about how Nelson Mandela survived twenty seven years in prison before emerging to become South Africa's first democratically elected president. He never forgot that he was the leader of a movement, and that others depended on him.

The way companies like IBM and P&G emphasise their social mission and get real work done can help build the foundations for a stronger economy.

Corporate Role Models Re-Emphasise Values and Ethics

Athletes as Role Models

Why is it that more professional athletes seem to be struggling to maintain one key ingredient in their lives – integrity?

Days of Grace is the memoir of the late pro tennis great Arthur Ashe. The book outlines Ashe’s final years after it was learned he was infected with the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion during a heart bypass operation in 1983. Ashe was able to keep the illness private until 1992. He died in early 1993.

Ashe epitomised integrity, both personally and professionally. What would Arthur Ashe say if he were able to provide insight on some of the latest story lines in professional sports?

How would Ashe react to someone like Michael Vick being given a chance to resurrect his tarnished image in the NFL? It certainly helps that Vick has someone in his corner whose personal integrity parallels that of Ashe. When you listen to Tony Dungy, you see a man who gets it today like Ashe got it then. Dungy and Ashe are examples that integrity can co-exist in professional sports. Does Vick get it? Public opinion is still out.

What would Ashe say to gun-carrying Gilbert Arenas of the NBA's Washington Wizards? Several incidents involving guns and pro athletes in the USA over the past few years have fuelled public perception that some carry handguns around like women carry purses!

What would Ashe think of the soap opera that has become Tiger Woods’ world? It is anybody’s guess how the Woods saga will unfold over the next year. A billion-dollar image is now mired in alleged infidelity with multiple women.

Professional athletes who feel they are above the law or public scrutiny have been around for years in the UK and the USA. In baseball, home run records established by Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds are now tarnished milestones?

More professional athletes need to work on expressions of solid character and less on expressing themselves as a human canvas for tattoo artists. After the career is over nobody will remember their body art. Athletes are remembered for character. 

Athletes as Role Models

Mental Toughness Matters in Elite Sport and in Business

Mental Toughness is a key attribute of Positive Leadership™. Elite athletes show it in abundance. Congratulations to Amy Williams, Team GB's first individual Winter Olympics gold medallist for 30 years. 

Read this article from the English Institute of Sport website, published just before competition started and then compare it with Williams' comments as described in The Times after she won gold. It is clear that she did learn the importance of mental toughness and used her preparation to excel under pressure. There are lessons in this for business leaders as they prepare for high performance in their world.

English Institute of Sport

'The Skeleton competition gets underway at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games later today (Thursday), with Team GB slider Amy Williams in particularly impressive form in yesterday’s final practice.

The 2009 World Championships silver medallist, who accessing a range of English Institute of Sport (EIS) support services as part of her British based training at Bath, finished second fastest on both the final two practice runs at the Whistler Sliding Centre, where she was runner up at a World Cup event last year.

Among the EIS support she has received, Williams has worked closely with EIS Sports Psychologist Deirdre Angella leading up the Vancouver Games.

“The preparation with Skeleton for Vancouver from an EIS psychology perspective started about two and a half years ago and we really planned backwards from the Winter Olympics to ensure the athletes were in the best possible  position to deliver for these Games” she says.

“The British Skeleton Coaching and support team is well established and everyone’s expertise dovetails to provide the very best athlete preparation. One of the aspects for psychology was to focus on maintaining many of the effective features already in place.  With individuals working to personalise what was necessary for them to maximise their strengths in order to deliver their best performances.”

This process included looking at areas of performance that can and can’t be controlled, whilst agreeing on procedures that the athlete will look to follow in the event of various scenarios so that they are prepared for whatever happens on the day of competition.

“For Amy some of the work she did was aimed at harnessing the excitement of competition so that she can effectively transfer training performance into competition performance” Angella adds.

“We looked at ensuring she follows all the day to day basics and normalises her routine as much as possible so that she finds herself in a position where when she gets on her sled she has a simple focus which just allows her to trust her ability, the work she has done and the thrill of sliding.”

The hard work seemed to be having the desired effect in the practice runs, with Williams commenting yesterday’. “I managed to enjoy it, and whenever I relax, enjoy it and have fun, it seems to work out. If I can enjoy the track I think the results will follow” she said.'

The Times

'Amy Williams gave Great Britain a gold medal shot in the arm on day eight of Vancouver Winter Olympics and admitted her love for the Whistler track, on which the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed last week.

Williams, leading after the opening day of the women's skeleton, held her nerve brilliantly to seal victory with two more lightning quick runs to get Britain's medal haul up and running.

"I love this track," she said after winning. "Once you get over the fear factor you learn to love it and the speed is your friend. You've got to work with it and relax and if you do that it's a great track to slide."

Williams insisted she had never let her position as overnight leader play on her mind. "I surprised myself because I wasn't really nervous," she said. "I slept absolutely perfectly and I was quite excited. It doesn't feel like an Olympic Games - it just feels like a normal World Cup race except with more people shouting for me.

"I'm not very good at statistics so I didn't realise I'm the first [individual] gold medallist for a long time. But I think it shows that if you have the determination any country can be good at any sport and you just have to concentrate and do your best." 

Mental Toughness Matters in Elite Sport and in Business

Role Models for a Leader

During his stint as commanding general of the multi-national force in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus took "enormous strength" from the experiences of Ulysses Grant at Shiloh. Petraeus also commended former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's advice to attend to problems when they first crop up, and businessman Jack Welch's views on subordinate leader development. However, for the military, "this is also about life and death," Petraeus said, causing him to place a premium on leadership qualities such as integrity.

Role Models for a Leader

Positive Leadership - Success, Heroes and Role Models

Jean Driscoll is a six-time Boston Marathon winner in the wheelchair division. Here is what she says about 'success':

'Some people think that successful persons are born that way. I'm here to tell you that a champion is someone who has fallen off the horse a dozen times and gotten back on the horse a dozen times. Successful people never give up.'

In the USA, Kurt Warner is a hero to many. In 1995, he was bagging groceries in Iowa for $5.50 an hour. Five years later, he earned the National Football League's Most Valuable Player Award and led his team to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. Here is his story:



Warner is still playing in the NFL today. His 'bags-to-riches' story is as inspiring as the song 'Hero' by Mariah Carey.

Positive Leadership - Success, Heroes and Role Models

Derek Jeter - Sports Illustrated's 2009 Sportsman of the Year

Even if you know little about the sport of baseball, this story is well worth reading for many reasons:

'Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees captained the U.S. team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, after which MLB commissioner Bud Selig sent him a letter of thanks in which he called him "Major League Baseball's foremost champion and ambassador."

"You embody all the best of Major League Baseball," Selig wrote in the March 30 letter. "As I mentioned to you in our recent telephone conversation, you have represented the sport magnificently throughout your Hall of Fame career. On and off the field, you are a man of great integrity, and you have my admiration."

For those achievements, but most especially for the principled, selfless manner in which he earned them, Jeter is SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's 2009 Sportsman of the Year. He is the first Yankee to win the award in its 56-year history and only the third baseball player in the past 34 years to win the award alone, joining Orel Hershiser (1988) and Cal Ripken Jr. (1995).

Jeter is an anachronism if you believe that manners and humility, the pillars of sportsmanship, are losing ground in an increasingly stat-obsessed, self-absorbed sporting culture in which the simple act of making a tackle, dunking a basketball or getting a base hit calls for some burlesque act of celebration, a marking of territory for individual purpose. Jeter is the unadorned star, and not only in the literal sense in that he is free of tattoos, piercings, cussing, posses and the other clichés of the big-time-jock starter kit. The actress Kim Basinger once captured the essence of Jeter as well as any scout, telling SI in 1999, "He's a hunk, and I don't even like that word. Women like guys who have a big presence but sort of play it down. It's very appealing."

Such uncalculating humility, alloyed to his formidable skills, is the same attribute that makes Jeter so appealing to teammates and foes alike.

Jeter's rare gift as a superstar athlete is that he doesn't so much inspire awe as he engenders comfort. To be around Jeter is to truly believe that things are going to turn out well, whether you are a fan who still wants to believe in the inspirational quality of sports and the people who play them, or a Yankee who wants to believe there is some way back from three runs down, five outs from elimination, against Pedro Martinez in his prime.

"Everything he does has such a grace about it," Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane says. "Even now, this last postseason, people would say to me, 'You must be rooting against the Yankees.' But you know, maybe because of Jeter, the Yankees know how to win. It's not an act. The Yankees' brand name in this era is that it is Jeter's era. It's similar to what DiMaggio was in his era."

Eight years ago, to his recollection, Beane watched Jeter run out a routine ground ball to shortstop in the late innings of a routine game in which the Athletics were beating the Yankees. Jeter ran down the first base line in 4.1 seconds, a time only possible with an all-out effort. Beane was so impressed by the sprint that he ordered his staff to show the video of that play to all of the organisation's players in spring training the following year.

"Here you have one of the best players in the game," Beane says, "who already had made his money and had his four championships by then, and he's down three runs in the seventh inning running like that. It was a way of showing our guys, 'You think you're running hard, until you see a champion and a Hall of Famer run.' It wasn't that our guys were dogging it, but this is different. If Derek Jeter can run all out all the time, everybody else better personally ask themselves why they can't."

Told the story, Jeter says, "It makes you feel good whenever anybody appreciates how you do things. My whole thing is, you're only playing for three hours a day. The least you can do is play hard. You have what, four or five at bats? O.K., it's not difficult to run, to give it a hundred percent. It's effort. You don't have to have talent for effort."

The idea of Jeter as a template stretches beyond 90 feet. He is a role model not only for how to play baseball but also for how to remain atop the wobbly pedestal of fame. '

For more, see - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1163403/index.htm

Derek Jeter - Sports Illustrated's 2009 Sportsman of the Year

What is the DNA of the Top Ranked Companies for Leadership Development?

Fortune magazine has just published its 'top companies for leaders study 2009' (see postings on 21 November 2009).

Some FAQs about the methodology of the study:

1.What are the common factors amongst these top-ranked companies in the area of leadership development?

i. Building a brand for leadership - For leading companies, building an external reputation for attracting and developing strong leadership is vital to long-term success. They recognise that a strong leadership brand is a great competitive advantage – one that attracts strong leaders as well as retains the top talent. A core component of the leadership brand of top companies is corporate social responsibility. These companies have realised that CSR directly helps them attract and inspire leaders at a time when there is a great concern for social responsibility, ethics and integrity.

ii. Getting selection right - The top companies are more intentional in whom they hire as leaders. Almost 100% of winners have a specific selection strategy for hiring leaders from within as well as outside the organisation. As one of the top executive of a winning company said: “ The business imperative is to grow very fast, therefore we need to develop leadership capability at all levels and ensure that we have the right people for right roles.” 100% of top companies tie their leader assessment, selection and development strategies to business and leadership goals.

iii. Focusing on a pipeline of future leaders - Research shows that the top companies clearly define critical roles in the organisation and have a robust methodology of creating future leaders. All top companies report having sufficient talent pipeline for being successful in the future. The reasons cited by companies for not having sufficient talent pipeline are lack of required skills / experience in the existing employees and insufficient mentoring programmes.

iv. Meaningful development through experience and exposure - Many companies depend on informal or fragmented development efforts. Some others depend on “corporate driven” programmes with little thought to the role or the market. Research shows that the top companies do three specific things, which differentiate them :

• Provide individual focus for leadership development and cater to individual specific needs.
• They groom leaders at a much faster speed.
• They provide holistic development through action learning projects, job rotations, exposure to organisational role models and creating robust development programmes.

2.What are the key takeways from this survey? 

i. Top companies create leaders at a fast pace, and are better geared for growth - The top companies for leaders are growing business faster than the rest. They are also growing leaders at a faster rate than the rest. They achieve this through identification of top talent early in their careers, provide them with robust development opportunities, re-evaluate their talent pipeline year on year. They also have unmitigated focus on holistic and structured development programmes.

ii. Top companies’ focus on creating a unique leadership brand - ethics, sustainability, values and CSR are increasingly becoming important for them in building a leadership brand. Leadership talent has started to give more weighting to these organisational attributes, and top companies are increasingly building these into their organisational DNA.

3 Are there any lessons from the current downturn in the economic activity that have impacted leadership thinking?

i. Top companies have continued to invest in their people, irrespective of the downturn. In fact, top companies have shown greater commitment towards development of their people in the last year.

ii.Top companies have focused on experiential learning, stretch assignments and customised development intervention to groom leaders when they knew they had to restrain their finances. Not surprisingly, their leadership pipeline is becoming their trump card in these challenging economic times.

4. Top companies realise that to survive in today’s hyper competitive world, one needs to have people who are professionally qualified and competent. The old mantra that leaders should be 'built' and not bought is increasingly being replaced with 'an effective leadership team needs some external gems'. This is because in companies where leaders were only grown internally, an inward orientation tends to set in. To keep leaders outwardly oriented and therefore always open to change, top companies create a well thought out mix of internally and externally hired talent even at the highest level.

5. One area where most organisations need to make a perception shift is with celebrating the charismatic individuals—companies need to move away from creating charismatic leadership in a few individuals, and need to move to creating a robust process of leadership development. Companies also need to move away from “corporate training programmes” to “role and market” focused leadership development process. The mindset has to change from training to holistic development.

6. Over the past years, the curvey results have shown that leadership development has become a strategic CEO agenda. CEOs are getting involved in assessment, selection and development of future leaders. More and more companies have taken to planning for leaders a lot more seriously. Companies are investing in customised development of people. Leaders are being groomed in various ways, for example, what was predominantly training driven learning is now becoming experiential learning. Leadership development has become a lot more scientific in terms of how it is practised over the years. Companies have elaborate processes, procedures and practices, which make leadership development more scientific.

7. Winning organisations see leadership development as a science. Their investments and efforts in managing their top performing employees, and enabling their career track for leadership roles has shown valuable results. Which explains why some of the top companies have leadership academies that are world renowned. Some top companies have iconic figures as leaders and believe in developing leaders through emulation and role modeling. There are inherent practices for constantly breaking the mould and rebuilding it from scratch, never allowing their future and existing leaders to slip into their comfort zones. Importantly, these companies with their aggressive growth plans, are feeding their business with high performing leadership talent—they focus on spotting talent early, grooming and moulding them to take on the roles.

What is the DNA of the Top Ranked Companies for Leadership Development?

Success and Failure Begin and End in What the Mind Believes is Possible

The story of Roger Bannister is an inspirational one.

For many years it was widely believed to be impossible for a human to run a mile (1609 meters) in under four minutes. In fact, for many years, it was believed that the four minute mile was a physical barrier that no man could break without causing significant damage to the runner's health. The achievement of a four minute mile seemed beyond human possibility, like climbing Mount Everest or walking on the moon.

It was a windy spring day, on the 6th of May 1954, during an athletic meeting between the British AAA and Oxford University, that Roger Bannister ran a mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, breaking through the “four munite mile” psychological barrier. John Landy, a great runner of that day, had never run faster than within 1.5 seconds of the four minute barrier. Then 56 days after Roger Bannister's breakthrough, John Landy ran the mile in 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds in Finland. Later, Bannister and Landy raced in the 'Mile of the Century', where Bannister won in 3 minutes and 58.8 seconds.

The breaking of the four minute mile was so significant that is was named by Forbes as one of the greatest athletic achievements. What made this event so significant is that once the four minute barrier was broken by Roger Bannister, within three years, by the end of 1957, 16 other runners also cracked the four minute mile.

Describing the psychological impact of the four minute barrier in an interview with Forbes, Sir Roger Bannister, who was knighted in 1975, related that:

'The world record then was four minutes, 1.4 seconds, held by Sweden’s Gunder Haegg. It had been stuck there for nine years, since 1945. It didn’t seem logical to me, as a physiologist/doctor, that if you could run a mile in four minutes, one and a bit seconds, you couldn’t break four minutes. But it had become a psychological as well as a physical barrier. In fact the Australian, John Landy, having run four minutes, two seconds, three times, is reported to have commented, “It’s like a wall.” I couldn’t see the psychological side.'

So what happened to the physical barrier that prevented humans from running the four minute mile? Was there a sudden leap in human evolution? No. It was the change in thinking that made the difference, Bannister had shown that breaking the four minute mile was possible. Often the barriers we perceive are only barriers in our own minds. Previous runners had been held back by their beliefs and mindsets. When the barrier was broken, other runners saw that is was possible and then 16 runners went on to do the same.

Our beliefs and mindsets limit or expand our world. Beliefs have power over us because we treat them as though they’re true. Beliefs influence what you attempt or choose not to attempt in life. They determine what you pay attention to, how you react to difficult situations and ultimately your attitude. Success and failure begin and end in what the mind believes is possible.

The first step a leader can take in influencing the world around them is to change how they think about it. If Roger Bannister accepted that the four minute mile was a physical limitation, he would never have tried to break it. Just like the runners of time past, many of the barriers that hold us back today exist only in our minds.

What are the 'four minute miles' that are holding you back in your personal and professional life?

Are their any role models who are challenging existing limits that you can learn from?

Success and Failure Begin and End in What the Mind Believes is Possible

Leadership Lessons From Peter Drucker

In his new book, Drucker on Leadership: New Lessons from the Father of Modern Management , Bill Cohen, a student and colleague of Peter Drucker, extracts the leadership lessons that he learned from this great thought leader.

Here are the lessons that Cohen uncovered:

1. Strategic planning is the first priority of the leader. Drucker believed that the leader's job was to create the desired future for the company or the organisation. The leader needed to be intimately involved with the strategic direction.

2. Ethics and integrity are critical for leader effectiveness. Character and ethical behaviour are of central importance for the leader. According to Drucker, followers might forgive leaders for mistakes, but will not forgive a lack of integrity.

3. Model the military. Peter Drucker had great respect for how the military developed leadership, with an emphasis on character and leaders as positive role models. The military's emphasis on commitment and "taking care of your people" are examples of what Drucker admired about military leadership.

4. Motivation: Treat employees like volunteers. Drucker greatly admired nonprofit organisations, and he extracted leadership lessons from them. If a leader treats employees as if they were volunteers - free to leave at any time - the leader pays greater attention to the non-monetary needs of workers, and moves from transactional motivation to transformational motivation.

5. Leaders should be marketers. This surprising lesson really means that leaders should be focused on the customer, and be concerned about how customers view the organisation and its products or services. The leader must set the tone for how the organisation is viewed, and be its best representative.

Although little of Peter Drucker's writings focused on leadership, there are many lessons for leaders in his work. Our thanks to William Cohen for highlighting them.

Leadership Lessons From Peter Drucker