Page 120 - The extraordinary leader

The Competency Quest • 97

pool that included a six-meter-high diving board. (That is, jumping roughly
from the height of a two-story building into the pool.) As she went to the end
of the board, she started to turn back, and the coach said, “You can do it—
just jump.” She did. Success at previous levels gave her confidence to try. She
wanted to be able to dive from the high board, and it was no longer frighten-
ing except to her parents and grandparents.

4. Success Increases Aspiration Level

We know that success increases people’s aspiration to try and do more. Any
growth in one area gives us new skills and the confidence to seek growth in
another. The late Andrall Pearson was a high-visibility executive, having been
a senior director of McKinsey and Co., then head of PepsiCo for 14 years,
then a teacher at the Harvard Business School who published frequently in
the Harvard Business Review. In a 1980 Fortune magazine article, he was listed
as one of America’s toughest bosses.
Then, at age 76, he became chairman of Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc.
(now renamed Yum) and learned an entirely new set of leadership skills. He
learned to govern rather than control. He gained an appreciation for the power
of human emotion. In earlier years he would display his own intellect and
overpower people with his ability to grasp issues quickly. In an earlier leader-
ship role he had told his colleagues, “A room full of monkeys could do better
than this.”
Pearson desisted from issuing orders to people, and began asking questions
and soliciting ideas. He became a mentor to many in the firm. Pearson
acknowledged that many of his leadership methods were new to him, and that
his experience was a capstone of an already remarkable career. 9
Today, a new Pearson has desisted from issuing orders to people, and
he is asking questions and soliciting ideas. He has become a mentor to many
in the firm. Pearson acknowledges that many of his leadership methods are
new to him, and that his experience is a capstone of an already remarkable
career. 9
Jacob Bronowski wrote, “We have to understand that the world can only
be grasped by action, not by contemplation. ... The most powerful drive in
the ascent of man is his pleasure in his own skills. He loves to do what he does
well, and having done it well, he loves to do it better.” 10
As we ponder the ways that competencies are linked together, we have no
way of tearing apart the impact of these many forces. Is it a halo effect, or is
it the result of cross training? What role does increased confidence play, or