Page 76 - The extraordinary leader
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Simplifying Leadership • 53
Focus on Results Personal Capability Character Leading Organizational Change Interpersonal Skills
Figure 3-1 Leadership Tent
The distinguishing characteristics of this model are
1. Leadership behaviors are clustered into five areas.
2. Strength in a cluster becomes a “tent pole” that lifts the leadership of
that person to a higher level.
3. Effective leaders possess skills in each area; so multiple poles are
necessary to lift the tent.
4. Statistically significant correlations exist between most of the
important competencies (the canvas is in one piece).
The key to lifting more of the tent (becoming a more effective leader) is to
get multiple poles high in the air. If you have only one tent pole, it pulls the
entire tent around the center of the pole. Our metaphor unfolds as follows.
Allow us the liberty of having modern tent poles that extend themselves like
the antenna on a car. As a pole is extended, one section of the tent is lifted
up, and in doing, a broad expanse of canvas is raised. The more the pole is
extended, the higher the canvas is lifted. (Remember, the tent pole is the
degree of strength and the number of competencies with great strength in one
