Page 166 - The extraordinary leader

Great Leaders Possess Multiple Strengths • 143

Balance is important, but our remedies for getting balance differ. For
example, our data clearly shows that a leader who gets extremely high scores
on “drive for results” will be more effective if those scores are balanced with
high scores on interpersonal relationships. We frequently coach leaders who
have extremely high scores on driving for results. They often catch flack from
colleagues about the impact they are having on the organization. But asking
this leader to ratchet down a passion for results is not the best advice. That is
probably a big part of what got this leader into his or her current position. Our
recommendation is to hang tight on high standards and lofty expectations;
but balance it with a greater emphasis on “people” skills.
In short, we find no evidence that what we and others have identified as
strengths can ever be overdone. Therefore, we can’t envision a time when we
would advise a leader to tone down one of their strengths.

Powerful Combinations

Brett Savage, a long-time colleague, told the secret of his success playing high
school football. Brett was 6 feet 4 inches tall, fairly slender, and a strong run-
ner. Brett’s physical appearance was more like that of a basketball player than
a football player. But Brett had another talent: he could catch anything thrown
anywhere close to him. At 6 feet 4 inches, Brett towered over the defensive
backs who attempted to cover him. His success in football came from a sim-
ple play. Brett played the end position. He would sprint out for a pass, get to
his predetermined destination, and the quarterback would throw the pass
high. Brett would jump to catch the pass, but no defender could come close
to the ball, because the defenders could not touch him while the pass was
being thrown without drawing a penalty. There was little they could do but
wait for him to catch the ball, and then they would tackle him. The strategy
was flawless, and as Brett explained his success he said, “The combination of
height and good hands was powerful.”
When considering strengths and the impact of combinations of strengths
on leadership, we were interested to see if the most effective leaders had con-
sistent combinations of competencies. To research this (Figure 6-6), we exam-
ined leaders who had very good skills at building relationships (e.g., this
competency in the top quartile) but were not rated positively in terms of drive
for results. Of these leaders, only 12 percent were at the 90th percentile in
terms of their overall leadership effectiveness. Next, we looked at leaders who
were in the top quartile on drive for results but were not at the top quartile on