Page 46 - The extraordinary leader

Demystifying Leadership • 23

good at everything. We fear the converse may also be true: that leaders who
are not seen as standing out on several dimensions are perceived as not stand-
ing out on any dimension.
In recent decades, our political leaders have seemed to display great
strengths that are accompanied by serious flaws. (Notable examples are
Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.) Whether private- and public-sector lead-
ers really differ from elected leaders, or whether there is just more intense
public scrutiny placed on elected political leaders, is the subject of a good
deal more research. (Chapter 6 covers this.)

Insight 15. Fatal Flaws Must Be Fixed

Although our focus will be on developing strengths, there are some cir-
cumstances when a focus on weaknesses is warranted. This often happens
when the nature of the weakness jeopardizes the center pole of the “lead-
ership tent”: character. If a person is not honorable, does not keep prom-
ises, does not tell the truth to people, or if this person places personal gain
above the needs of the organization, that flaw will cause the person to be
ineffective.
There are other “fatal flaws.” These begin with an inability to learn from
mistakes and include poor interpersonal skills, unwillingness to accept new
ideas, lack of accountability, and a lack of initiative. Chapter 7 covers this.

Insight 16. Leadership Attributes Are Often Developed
in Nonobvious Ways
Our research has helped us uncover a new approach to behavioral change
that we have arbitrarily called nonlinear development. We will argue that the
vast majority of action plans created by leaders use a linear philosophy regard-
ing behavioral change. But, the perception of competency may be strength-
ened in nonobvious ways. We will argue that competencies are not reality but
are the perceptions of others about a given leader. There may be nonobvious
ways to improve how leaders are perceived. We have called these “compe-
tency companions,” and these are behaviors that always rise or fall with
another competency. Although it is impossible to prove cause and effect
between the two, the fact that they are laced so tightly together suggests that
something important can be learned from them.