Page 36 - The extraordinary leader

Demystifying Leadership • 13

the leader will be. Without that personal character, on the other hand, lead-
ers are forever in danger of being discovered. They are like a Hollywood set
that from one side looks attractive, but after walking around it, the illusion is
dispelled and the hollowness is obvious.

Personal Capability

On one side of the tent floor is the pole of personal capability. This describes
the intellectual, emotional, and skill makeup of the individual. It includes
analytical and problem-solving capabilities, along with the technical compe-
tence the person possesses. It requires an ability to create a clear vision and
sense of purpose for the organization. Great leaders need a strong collection
of these personal capabilities. Leadership cannot be delegated to others. The
leader must be emotionally resilient, trust others, and be self-confident
enough to run effective meetings and speak in public.

Focus on Results

The third tent pole of leadership represents the behaviors that can broadly be
described as “focusing on results.” It describes the ability to have an impact
on the organization. It means being capable of getting things accomplished.
We fully subscribe to the main thesis in the book Results-Based Leadership, 5
which argues that leaders may be wonderful human beings, but if they don’t
produce sustained, balanced results, they simply are not good leaders. We will
later examine the interplay of these three elements as a powerful predictor of
leadership effectiveness.

Interpersonal Skills

The fourth tent pole of leadership puts into one cluster all of the interper-
sonal or people skills. There is an enormous body of evidence that says lead-
ership is expressed through the communication process and is the impact that
one person (the leader) has on a group of other people. It is the direct expres-
sion of the character of the individual and is often the window by which peo-
ple understand the personal character of the leader. (Note, however, that
leadership does not equal any one competency. It is expressed in a result. Yes,
the competency is the tool or the manners in which that result is obtained.
As such, it is worthy of understanding, but a competency is never an outcome,