Who Do You Lead – a Team or Yourself?

In May 2017, Batumi will be hosting an unprecedented business event – the International Business Forum - which gathers 800 professionals from more than 10 countries for a two-day forum lead by world-renowned personal development coaches, in Hotel Euphoria. One of the prominent speakers is Marshal Goldsmith, author of almost all bestselling books about leadership.

Before you get to hear the leaders for yourself in Hotel Euphoria, Batumi, here are some interesting pointers from Goldsmith, sent to you by the IBF team.

Do you think you weren’t born a leader? That you lack charisma or talent, or some other secret ‘ingredient’? Well, surprisingly, you might be wrong, as personality and talent has nothing to do with leadership. You might well be very charismatic but still not a good leader. The most successful leaders have three main characteristics – attitude, values and strengths. A leader is either open or closed; easy or strict; generous or stingy; number-oriented or vision-oriented.

So, what skills should a leader possess?

Peter Drucker used to say that a leader always solves very precise problems and that eight general rules make him an effective executive:

1. They ask “what needs to be done?”

2. They ask “what’s right for the company?”

3. They develop action plans.

4. They take responsibility for decisions.

5. They take responsibility for communicating.

6. They focus on opportunities rather than problems.

7. They run productive meetings.

8. They think and said “we” rather than “I”.

Using a discipline system for applying these rules helps individuals make insightful decisions, as leaders easily turn knowledge into actions; moreover, they spread accountability across the whole organization.

Prof. Jim Collins from HBR believes that the best executive is the “Level 5” leader – a person who is a unique combination of personal humility and professional will. The “Level 5” leader thinks of success as a result of the company’s team efforts, outer factors and luck. However, they take complete responsibility for failure themselves. Only this kind of conduct is regarded as humility. As for will, a leader does not show it only by saying what he wants. The “Level 5” leader is one who overcomes all barriers on his way to pursuing his goal, of course considering correctness, humility and effectiveness.

But is the leader alone in a team? According to the work of Prof. Deborah Ancona of MIT, there are no perfect leaders because managing an organization includes many aspects, which always require different approaches and decisions. There are no certain formulas that one can follow every single time... A real leader analyses the situation, finds power in his own self and looks around for assets that can solve his weaknesses. Moreover, a leader never forgets that WE is always better than ME.

Otar Kiria