ARTICLE 17
What sets apart great leaders
I continue the discussion I started last week on leadership in view of the apparent leadership failure across our country – in state institutions, the church and the political arena – amidst concerns over the pre-and post-election crisis and calls for national healing and reconciliation. I explore attributes of exceptional leaders.
True leaders are selfless, humble, empathetic and uplift others
Leadership is premised on selflessness – putting other people’s interests before your own – and being a role model. The starting point therefore is self-awareness – knowing your strengths and limitations. In Leadership: How to get yourself, your team and your organization further than you ever thought possible, Gell Anthony says ‘to lead others, you need to be able to lead yourself, and to improve your organization, you must improve yourself.’
True leadership is liberating, enabling followers to realize their potential. John Maxwell sums it thus, ‘leadership isn’t about yourself, it is about advancing the team.’ Leaders therefore don’t draw attention to themselves but pass credit and take responsibility for failure. Edwin Louis Cole said accepting responsibility for failure is the substance on which success rests.
Self-praise is therefore inimical to leadership. People detest the prideful and all-knowing. True leaders are humble, listen, exercise wisdom and self-restraint and are magnanimous. They don’t become great by despising but lifting others. They genuinely care and feel for others and share power. Leaders aren’t superficial, they are authentic.
Leaders have courage, inner strength and character
A leader should have moral and inner strength (character). ‘I have concluded that the greatest obstacle to a leader’s success is a deficit of character’, wrote Dr. Myles Munroe in The Power of Character in Leadership: How Values, Morals, Ethics & Principles Affect Leaders. Many leaders, he says, start strong but fail or self-destruct due to defects in moral character. Stephen Covey identified integrity, maturity and mentality as key character traits.
You can’t be effective as a leader if you are led by ‘opinion polls’ or rely on multitudes. You should have courage to stand for your convictions. A leader ought to be consistent – predictable. Mahatma Gandhi stated ‘I have taught myself not to be afraid of anyone ….strength of numbers is the delight of the timid’. This, however, is not to say be stubborn. Real leaders are pragmatic; they adjust positions when circumstances change. Leadership requires balance.
A leader should nonetheless be principled. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen Covey advocates for ‘principle centered, character based, inside-out’ approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness. Principles, he says, are neither invented by us nor society. Rather, they are laws of the universe regarding human and organisational relations. According to John Maxwell, principles function as a map, allowing us to make wise decisions. A principle, he adds, becomes a value once it is embraced and internalised.
Likewise, a leader should be secure. Insecure leaders are a menace; self-preservation becomes their preoccupation. They can’t even delegate. Insecurity even led King Herod to order the killing of all boys under two years upon hearing of Jesus’s birth.
Leaders don’t seek to be loved, they are visionary and have a clear sense of what is important
Unless you can distinguish yourself and think differently and independently, your leadership capacity will be limited. Group think undermines leadership. Leaders are more concerned with being right than being accepted. Robin Sharmar writes in Leadership Wisdom: The 8 Rituals of Leadership, ‘visionary leaders care less about appearing right than doing right’. Gandhi promoted nonviolent passive resistance when the masses craved violent resistance. So did Mandela preach reconciliation when fellow black South Africans wanted revenge. There is therefore nothing like being loved or hated in leadership. Leadership, like John Maxwell says, isn’t about you. You are not there to be loved but to do a job.
A clear sense of what is important is equally critical. Separate what adds value from ‘bureaucratic crap’. Further, winning leaders make the right judgment calls – they have clear mental frameworks that guide their thinking. If anything, ‘the measure of success in life is the sum [total] of all judgment calls’. Resilience and sustainability are two guiding principles in decision making.
Then there’s ‘the vision thing’. According to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, ‘the task of a leader is to take his people from where they are to where they have never been’. Robin Sharmar adds, ‘visionary leaders have a clear sense of their destination and exactly what things they need to accomplish to reach it’. Vision is said to be the fuel leaders run on, the energy that creates action.
Leaders are decisive, confident and reliable
Accomplished leaders are also decisive – they don’t take ages to decide – and they possess strong communication abilities. According to Sir Alex Fergusson, ‘every leader is a salesman’. Meanwhile, effective leaders decide, act and move on even in the face of uncertainty – they are confident. Followers can be assured that they will not be abandoned as they are credible. According to former General Electric CEO Jack Welsh, confidence gives you courage, extends your reach and lets you take greater risks and achieve far more than you ever thought possible.
Also, leaders respond rather than react to situations – they are proactive. Proactive people, according to Stephen Covey, focus on the ‘circle of influence’ (things they can do something about or within their control) while reactive people focus on the ‘circle of concern’ (things they can’t do anything about). Similarly, real leaders aren’t extremists. Despite being Hindu, Gandhi drew lessons from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and adopted some Christian teachings while questioning aspects of his faith.
Ultimately, results separate great leaders
Above all, a leader should produce results. Without results, a leader’s credibility becomes vulnerable. As such, a leader should be action-oriented. Sooner or later, followers will need proof that you are leading them in the right direction. Peter Drucker observed in Classic Drucker, ‘there are two types of people in the business community; those who produce results and those who give reasons why they couldn’t’. Drucker also famously said ‘we manage for results’. As one scholar put it, ‘you can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do’.
It’s the mountains you conquer that set you apart as a leader. Mandela and Gandhi overcame tyranny and secured their countries’ independence and, in the case of Mandela, averted a bloodbath. Abraham Lincoln prevented the US from disintegrating and ended slavery. Winston Churchill fended off Hitler’s onslaught.
Results are the proof that your leadership has been successful. Unfortunately, we often mistake technical ability for leadership capacity. This lies at the core of most leadership failures. Ultimately, however, fate or destiny has the final say for, many were potential great leaders, for example, who did not live long enough to manifest their potential.
What defines our current political leadership?
The question then is what defines the current political leadership in Zambia. Yet, it’s basic values of human decency, humility, honesty, truthfulness, empathy and love for humanity that fundamentally define great leaders.
The author is a lawyer and a citizen who wants the best for our country.
For comments and feedback: chris.mapani@gmail.com
