What makes a great leader?

This question is getting some attention. Since Rosa Say posted the initial challenge to the blog Synergy on Sunday, there have been some comments and postings providing different perspectives on this topic.

So let me put in my two cents.

I like to use the analogy of the three legged stool to represent a business. That is, a business needs to effectively combine people, process and technology. But while the three legged stool works well to show an equal proportion for each of the components (otherwise, it wobbles) it lacks another dimension, in particular that of time or motion. The chair (i.e. business) moves. The business does not stand still. So let's shift gears a bit and use a bus to depict the business.

The bus still needs to operate with an effective combination of people, process and technology. That does not change. So now, the bus driver is the company leader. In this case, he is not just any leader. A great leader is one who knows how to get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus (hard decisions some times), the proper technology to enhance the business processes, and the right processes to serve the customer. The great leader also knows how to drive the whole bus forward. The great leader knows how to navigate through the maze of roads, or even venture forth into off-road areas.

FastCompany republished or more correctly brought to back an article originally published in September 2005 on Three Ways of Great Leaders. Two Harvard Business School professors (Mayo and Nohria) found in their study

... these business masters had more than their fair share of what Mayo and Nohria call "contextual intelligence." That is, they possessed an acute sensitivity to the social, political, technological, and demographic contexts that came to define their eras. And they adapted their enterprises to best respond to those forces.

You can call it "contextual intelligence" or inspiration or insight or some other term but the great leader recognized an opportunity. Someone in the market place, possibly a significant portion of the market, had an unmet need. The great leader recognized that and figured out a way to meet that need. The great leader got the bus, loaded the right people, process and technology and set forth to meet that need. Without that recognition, there is no purpose for the bus!

Initially, there may not even have been a road to drive on. But the great leader got the bus going. There were other challenges along the way. You can use your imagination here. Bottom line, the great leader kept the bus going. The great leader kept the people focused (challenged, rewarded, etc.), the processes (adjusted as necessary), and the technology (updated or enhanced as required) to meet their customers needs and the bus kept rolling.

Vision alone won't take the great leader far.
Persistence alone in the face of great odds won't.
Recognition alone of the opportunity won't.

It is the combination of these that the great leader needs to address on a regular basis to keep the bus (people, process and technology) going to successfully meet their customers needs.

How is your bus driver?


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