Five words that define leadership

Volumes have been written on the topic of leadership, mostly by people with far more impressive credentials than mine.  So I am going out on a very shaky limb when I assert that five words are sufficient to define leadership in a useful manner.  But, what the heck, entrepreneurship is all about risk.  I'll take one.  Here are my five words:

Vision.  Commitment.  Execution.  Focus.  Principles.

Of course, it really takes a few more words to make clear what deeper message is embedded in those five; but not many. 

Vision...

A clearly expressed vision of a more desirable future state of affairs is paramount, whether you are leading a nation, a company, a club, a family, or just yourself.  Leaders enable change.  Their vision defines it.  A journey begun without a particular destination is not a journey at all.  At best, it is a sightseeing tour.  At worst, it is a waste of precious time and energy.

"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will."

George Bernard Shaw

"Management by objectives works if you first think through your objectives. Ninety percent of the time you haven't."

Peter Drucker

Commitment...

A leader's firm and unwavering commitment to relevant action, rather than to specific measurable objectives, demonstrates his understanding of human behaviors and limitations.  I can control and take responsibility for my actions.  I cannot control the response of the marketplace to my actions.  I can commit to make 25 sales calls.  I cannot guarantee that any of my targets will actually buy. 

So, I must firmly commit to act in what I presume to be the most relevant manner, given my vision for the future and my circumstances at any particular moment.  And I have written before about why commitments are far more useful than goals.

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

Henry David Thoreau

"Inherent in every goal is permission to stop trying."

Jim Flowers

Oh, and, by the way, along with commitment comes that fearsome beast, accountability.  If I say I'm going to do whatever, I have to do it.  No ifs, ands, or buts.

Execution...

Actually, with regard to all those relevant actions, execution alone is far from sufficient.  What is required is impeccable execution.  Clearly, my best effort must be good enough to complete my selected action; but it absolutely must be my best effort.  Otherwise, my competitors and the complexity of the market will generally defeat me.

“We are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect.  But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.”

Vince Lombardi

Focus...

Focus.  Focus.  Focus.  This word appears to be the mantram of great leaders. 

I first told this story back in about 2005.  It still works.  At least, I think so. 

Picture this.  You want to penetrate an office wall.  You run at it, arms and legs flailing.  What happens?  A broken nose, perhaps.  In animated cartoons characters pass through walls, leaving an opening precisely the shape of their bodies.  That doesn’t work in real life.

You have a chance to penetrate that wall, however, with a well-directed and fully committed fist.  The martial arts people will tell you that they strike a target that is beyond the barrier.  To break a board, they strike beyond the board.  That makes the board only an incidental nuisance along the way.

And people with true focus are never distracted by the fleeting sparkle of meaningless shiny objects.

"The secret of success is constancy of purpose."

Benjamin Disraeli

"The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence."

Robert J. Shiller

Principles...

"Back of every noble life there are principles that have fashioned it."

George Lorimer

In my experience, good things don't just magically happen.  The actions that result in positive outcomes generally have to pass the acid test of noble principles, such as these:

• The fundamental importance of honesty, integrity, and responsibility;
• The inherent worth and dignity of every single person;
• The importance of justice, equity, and compassion in all relationships;
• The enlightening power of a continuing, free, and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right and the responsibility of each individual to act in good conscience in moderating behaviors, both personal and corporate;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence upon which we all depend for survival.

Five words.  Fourteen syllables.  Leadership defined.  Think Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. Think also about great leaders you have known personally, but who acted on a smaller stage and never became famous.

Vision.  Commitment.  Execution.  Focus.  Principles.

Are you a leader?

Comments

[Kenmaready]

Jim - this is good stuff. Now, what would you change about this list to create a list I think about a lot: what 5 words would you use to best describe the successful entrepreneur?

[Jim Flowers]

Ken,

Thanks for the compliment.  Now to your challenge...

As you know, I believe four factors are fundamental to successful entrepreneurship: Market, Magic, Mentors, and Moxie.  Behind those fundamental factors lie the personal entrepreneurial traits that support them.  For example, people who intentionally enter an emerging market, specifically to address a particular need or desire that is compelling to the members of that market, tend to be curious, open-minded, keen observers.  When they devise magical responses to those needs in those markets, they are demonstrating creativity, in all its manifestations.  People who value and seek out the knowledge and wisdom of others are in constant learning mode.  And people with moxie get things done.  The "moxied" folks typically manifest all four pieces of the moxie mix: intellect, physical stamina, high personal  motivation, and concern for others - Mind, Muscle, Motivation, and Meaning.  Mind and Muscle give us Power.  Motivation and Meaning give us Purpose.  The combination of Power and Purpose often enables people to be unusually Persuasive.

So, since you're making me pick key words that describe a successful entrepreneurial person, I choose these (for today, anyway): bright, curious, visionary, healthy, energetic, motivated, principled, focused and persuasive.  That's nine.  I'm sure more are needed.  People are really complicated, in case you hadn't noticed.

Regards,

Jim

[Kenmaready]

I love it, that's a great answer to one of my favorite questions. I think about this question most when I'm running or on a long drive, and I have to admit my top 5 change every time that I think about it. It probably depends most on which entrepreneur I just talked with or which problem I'm mulling over. It's a good discussion starter though. Fred (our firm's founder) would say (and often does say) that the one characteristic common to all successful entrepreneurs is: PERSISTENCE. Of course that is included in some of the traits you listed (i.e., motivated & focused), and a very persistent person who is off course (and won't listen or adapt) is probably not going to be successful - so many of the other characteristics you listed are needed to guide that persistence in the right direction. But over and over again, I see that Fred is right on this one. Personally, I like curiousity as well, I think that's my favorite.