|
May 24, 2009
Leadership
is a Results Contest
by Tony Jeary
Author of Strategic
Acceleration: Succeed at the Speed of
Life
If you go to Amazon.com and search in books
using the word 'leadership' you get over 300,000
possibilities. If you are interested in getting a
formal education in leadership, you can earn Phd or
Masters degrees in such disciplines as
Organizational Leadership, Change Leadership,
Leadership Communication and others. You can even
earn a Servant Leadership Certificate if you need
one of those. The point is that leadership is a big
subject and it means many different things to
different people. The dictionary definition of the
word lead is: To show the way by going in
advance, and to guide or direct on a path. So,
in its purest sense leadership engages the ability
to do those two things.
It's important to understand what the core issue
of leadership is. By that I mean the most
foundational issue of leadership that is easy to
understand and easy to measure. One of the
undeniable facts of leadership is that leaders are
measured and subjected to criticism and scrutiny.
The heart of that critical process goes to
measuring the results that leaders achieve. That
makes leadership a results contest and is the means
by which every leader must understand their most
strategic duties and responsibilities. People can
spend years studying and refining their leadership
styles, philosophies, techniques and other tools
that leaders must use -- but the real issue for all
leaders is getting results!
When the economy is good, it's easier for
business leaders to achieve good results. When the
economy is good profits are high and money is
available. People are secure and relatively happy.
Life is good for all. It's not to say that leaders
don't have challenges to overcome in good economic
times. It's just that the nature of the challenges
and the environment that frames the challenges have
a different character about them when people are
prospering . It's also easier to get results that
are perceived to be acceptable in good economic
times and the judgment, measurement and criticism
of leaders is rather tame -- compared to the uproar
that frequently accompanies leadership evaluation
in a tough economy. Just look at the public rage
that has recently been directed toward business
executives whose companies have been heavily
subsidized by taxpayers.
Please let me be even more direct: Successful
leaders get superior results, faster! Unsuccessful
leaders don't!
©2009
by Tony Jeary. Published with
permission.
|
|
Tony Jeary, author of Strategic
Acceleration: Succeed at the Speed of
Life, has been and continues to be
the coach to the world's top CEOs and high
achievers for more than 20 years. His
clients include the Presidents of
Wal-Mart, Firestone, Shell, Samsung, New
York Life, and the United States Senate,
to name only a few. An advisor to many,
Tony Jeary has invested his life and
career in helping others discover new
clarity for their vision, develop focus on
direction, and create powerful execution
strategies that strategically impact
achievement and results. Tony is happily
married and blessed with 2 great
daughters.
Learn more about Strategic Acceleration
at www.strategicacceleration.com.
Visit Tony Jeary at www.tonyjeary.com.
|
|