Page 77 - The extraordinary leader

54 • The Extraordinary Leader

area that an individual possesses.) So, assume that this first tent pole comes
up from the cluster we have labeled “Character.”
A second pole (assume this one is created by the cluster “Focus on Results”)
elevates a new section of the tent, and in so doing, it raises the canvas that is
directly above it but also raises the canvas that is between this new pole and
the first one. The canvas that was initially around the first pole moves closer
to the full height of both tent poles. With each succeeding tent pole, large
expanses of canvas are lifted until ultimately there is a huge volume of space
under the tent.
The poles in our metaphor represent key “strengths” of the individual
leader, especially those that have been shown to make a difference in sepa-
rating the great from the good. The canvas represents all of the behaviors and
competencies possible to be displayed by a leader. (We have seen competency
models from some organizations in which there were 173 behaviors defined
for the leaders to assess themselves against. That seems to us to be a few more
behaviors than most humans can keep track of on a daily basis.)

Making a Leader

We will now more thoroughly describe these five major elements of leader-
ship attributes.

Character—The Center Pole of Every Leader
We begin with the component that is indeed at the core. Everything radiates
from it. It is the center pole of the tent (Figure 3-2). It is so important that
some authors have written about it as if it were synonymous with leadership.
For example:

● Warren Bennis, one of the most respected writers and researchers on
leadership, has talked about leadership being all about integrity.
● Max De Pree, the CEO of Herman Miller and a frequent writer on
leadership, has equated leadership with personal character.
● Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner have written a book entitled Credibility
and defined personal credibility as the foundation of all leadership.
● Jim Shaffer writes about leadership being defined by “telling
the truth.”