Be Different or be dead

December 28, 2015

Why a leader who stands out is better than a great one

Source: Unsplash

Why a leader who stands out is better than a great one.

Much has been written on leadership and what it takes to be competent in the craft.

Contemporary writing, however, doesn’t differentiate between the various levels of leadership.

Leadership instruction promulgates similar ‘formulae’ to enhance one’s leadership capabilities. It’s pretty basic stuff. And it really doesn’t teach much to someone who wants to take their game to another level.

It’s time we recognize that there are different levels of leadership and enable individuals to understand what it takes to move up from one level to the next.

There are, in my experience, 3 classes of leaders — ‘good’, ‘great’ and ‘standout’.

Leadership principles

The good leaders practice accepted leadership principles satisfactorily; for example, they may be acceptable communicators and they delegate according to the norms.
The great excel at performing one or two principles; they may be beyond competent, for example, at creating strategy for their organization.
The stand-out leaders, on the other hand, create new principles based on what it will take for their organizations to thrive and survive an uncertain future. They introduce notions like ‘to be successful we need to do lots of imperfect stuff fast’ and fail fast.

The standouts do not accept today’s norms; they create new ones.

Business momentum

The good leader manages the momentum of their business, content to let the direction of the past carry them into the future.
The great builds momentum and accelerates progress. They look for ways to achieve their end game faster.
The standouts disrupt the momentum of their business to take it in a different direction. The standouts intervenes on themselves; the good and the great are not so inclined.

Best practices

The good leaders identify best practices to emulate.
The great copy best practices fast and furiously; they simply do more copying (and faster) than their good brethren.
The standouts don’t copy; they create a unique and different way forward. They look at best in class as the model to break away and be different from.

Delegation

The good delegate and hold people accountable. They treat people ‘by the leadership book’.
The great delegate and coach people to be the best they can be.
The standouts refuse to delegate tasks that require their own fingerprints. They take personal ownership in such matters as managing the customer moment. They recognize the limits of delegation.

The standouts are masters of do-it-yourself when the moment requires the personal involvement of the leader.

Communication

The good communicate the business plan of the organization using all traditional broadcast channels available.
The great broadcast and personally engage in face-to-face meetings and Q&A sessions.
The standouts provide a detailed explanation of the strategy to each function in the organization so people can see specifically what they need to do differently.

Leader brand

The good have a generalist brand of leadership and are not known for any particular trait.
The great have strength in a particular leadership category such as strategy development.
The standout brand centers on serving people and asking asking “How can I help?”

Good and great leaders practice their art better than others; standouts, on the other hand, create a different practice.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.28.15 at 04:25 am by Roy Osing
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