Some Thoughts on What Successful Leaders do Well

I've said it many times. "Good leaders are very hard to find."

What do I mean? People in leadership roles who get and practice leadership fundamentals, enabling the organization to accomplish its mission and realize the vision, are few and far between. Why? I don't profess to know exactly, but I think it's mostly because it's hard. Good leadership usually requires "change." We all know how difficult it is to change, especially when we, as leaders, need to change.

I have also often said, "If you look for the problem or the person to blame, you need not look far. Just find the nearest mirror." This is because we, as leaders, have the responsibility and authority to do whatever it takes to improve. So, we can't blame those in our charge. Our people are doing their best and, most of the time, are only limited by the tools (resources) we allow them to have.

Some years ago, I thought a guest post on Michael Hyatt's website was excellent, The 3 Lenses Of Visionary Leaders. You should check it out. I believe the quote the author begins with from Jack Welch, though, needs more examination. Jack wrote, "Good leaders create a vision, passionately articulate the vision, and relentlessly drive the vision to completion." I believe the two most important words in this quote are "Good leaders ... " All of the vision in the world does the organization no good unless the leader can do the things in the rest of the quote. The trick is getting the rest of the organization to step up and do some pretty creative and awesome stuff.

If the leader is not open to feedback or is unwilling to change as the feedback might require, nothing will ever really change. Unfortunately, this is what I've experienced more times than not over the years. The vision can only be realized when the leader creates a "culture" that fosters the free flow of feedback, sharing of ideas, and, most critical, making mistakes.

All the vision in the world does no good without the leadership to pull it off. Therefore, the first step is to find the right leader. I once saw a poster in the office of a manufacturing engineer. It read, "Warning - Due to a shortage of robots, humans are being used in the production area, and they react very unpredictably when abused."

You get the point.