Page 52 - The extraordinary leader

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GREAT LEADERS MAKE

A GREAT DIFFERENCE

Good is the enemy of excellence.
Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average.
—Jim Rohn

Good and Bad Leaders
In our research, we found conclusive evidence that leaders with poor leader-
ship skills generate poor results. That finding will not come as a shock to any-
one. It is quite intuitive to anyone who has worked in an organization for more
than a few weeks. And our research is equally clear about the fact that good
leaders tend to produce good results for their organizations.
What’s more, most individuals do not need sophisticated measurement
tools to tell the difference between good leaders and bad leaders. They feel
the difference. They have experienced the effects at a very personal level. In
general, good leaders are more effective than bad leaders in almost every
dimension, including improving productivity, reducing turnover, enhancing
customer service, and creating high levels of employee commitment.

Great Versus Good Leaders
Our research, however, shows that there is another, even more dramatic, level
of difference between good and extraordinary leaders. This is the central

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