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An Introduction

Leadership Matters What Really Makes You a Leader? Take the First Step: Learn to Lead Contact Us

© Key Consulting Group Inc.

2 | © Key Consulting Group Inc.

Your organization needs leaders. Great management, technical excellence, and business acumen are always necessary for success. But they are not enough to sustain that success in a changing world.

Leaders “pursue a better future by working with and through other people.” Leadership is about two things: results and relationships.

Leaders have a passion for results. They are pathfinders, seeing a problem or opportunity, knowing it must be acted on, then doing what is needed. Their focus may be large, even changing the world.

But more commonly they seek to deliver results within the reach of any of us: enhancing a team’s performance, implementing a new idea, or achieving a challenging business target.

…To your organization

Leadership Matters People are the source of most valuable results generated by an organization. The things of your business (strategies, structure, systems, etc.) don’t work unless designed and implemented well by the people involved in the business.

Their collective capability, creativity and intelligence will ultimately decide the fate of the organization. Private business, public service, or not for profit agency, people drive them all, as individuals and teams.

Leadership is also then about relationships. Leaders know they must engage others to achieve big results. They can’t do what needs doing alone, so they extend their own capacity by building influential relationships, then connecting others with the work to be done.

Business Success

BusinessAcumen

TechnicalExcellence

Leadership Management

“Leaders pursue better results byworking with and through others”

Results

Relationships+


Externally, the business environment is demanding and dynamic. Waves of change are driven by consumers, communities, competition and technology. Failure to adapt in a timely way threatens the future of every business, even those that have been very successful in the past.

Internally, organizations are in the midst of a cultural transformation. Traditionally hierarchical, siloed and formal, with power exercised from the top, the changing nature of work and workers now demands that power shift to the front line.

The factory is dead, and with it the traditional “boss subordinate” ‐relationship. Too much happens, too fast, and in too many places. No one individual or group, no matter how experienced or skilled, can know everything, do it all, or control what’s happening everywhere.

…Now more than ever

Leadership Matters

From this…

…To this.

The last thing any business needs right now is people on the job who simply put their heads down, do as they are told, and keep their ideas to themselves.

Those doing the work must make choices and take action in their work. They need to step up, doing what’s needed skillfully, responsibly, and often beyond the view or capability of those “in charge”.

A Changing Workplace

Yesterday Today

Tangible(hand work-visible)

Routine(same every day)

Simplified(assembly line)

Generic Skills(all do same thing)

Individual(work done alone)

Intangible(head work-

invisible)

Dynamic(always changing)

Complex(each job unique)

Specialized(need unique skills)

Connected(work done in

teams)


People need leaders. Not always, but especially when things change.

There are times in any human enterprise when someone must lead, seeing what others can’t, pointing the way, taking the first steps, showing others what needs to be done and how to do it.

And these are changing times. At all levels in an organization, people can, and should, make a difference. A new team of capable performers and great followers is needed to partner with leaders to bring the pieces of a complex, dynamic, fast paced, business together to create results that really matter.

…In a changing workplace

Leadership Matters Traditional ‘super’ vision just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Great leaders create the conditions in which this new type of performer will step up. These leaders value capable individual contributors, facilitate team effort, and help those who do the real work of the business fulfill their own needs as they help the business succeed in challenging times.

These leaders understand that being the “boss” is not enough. They know the authority of a “position” is poor substitute for the “personal” power, the influence, that can be earned with others if they deem you worthy of being followed.

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”

John Maynard Keynes

A Culture Shift

From the factory…

To the modern workplace…

This way!

Which way?


The value of front-line leaders is often ignored, largely in the belief that level in the hierarchy is key to leadership, that position defines who leads.

But every day, leaders on the front-line have real opportunities to step up, influence others, and move individuals, teams, and organizations forward. These front-line leaders typically occupy three groups…

Formal Leaders: The job descriptions of supervisors, foremen, lead hands, etc. include accountability for the performance of others. Their positions grant them authority to assign, direct and assess the work of individual contributors and small teams. They are expected to represent the interests and expectations of more senior leaders as the work is done.

Helpful Advisors: There is a growing cadre of individual contributors expected to achieve goals beyond their own capacity, but to do it without the formal authority to require others to help them. Many work as advisors in support functions like HR, IT, or Safety. Their influence is largely founded in specialized expertise, complemented by a willingness to help.

Mature Performers: When less experienced front-line people don’t know what to think or do, they look to the opinions and actions of more “seasoned” performers who have “been there and done that”. Intentional or not, the example set by these mature workers is leadership, and it critically impacts the decisions and actions of other front-line people, especially when things need to change.

Thisway

!

Front-Line Leader Types

Formal

Informal

I canhelp!

HelpfulAdvisors

SeasonedPerformers

…Especially at the front-lines

Leadership Matters


Push ToResults

Managers

What Really Makes You a Leader?

Leader and manager are terms often used interchangeably. Managers and supervisors are regularly referred to as, and assumed to be, leaders.

But management and leadership are not the same. Managers and leaders do different things, and impact a business in different ways. These differences are not trivial. Neither is “better”; both are needed in a successful business.

A manager or supervisor may also be a leader, but this isn’t necessarily so. Becoming a better leader starts by understanding the differences between these two key functions.

Good managers keep a business running smoothly, headed steadily toward its goals. Their efforts create order, stability and predictability so plans are executed on schedule, to standard, and within budget. They “push” an organization forward on the track it is already on, planning, controlling, monitoring and ready to improve how things are done.

Managers succeed in their role by controlling the “things” of an organization – policies, processes, practices, tools, time, etc.. Those things include human resources. People are assets to be deployed in the best interests of the business.

Two Important Functions

Pull ForResults

Leaders

“Leaders are the architects.Managers are the builders.”

John Marriotti, Author

…It isn’t being a manager


Manager Leader

ReduceRisk

Improve

Plan

Efficient(Do Things

Right)

Coordinate

Communication

Policy

Control People

Compliance

Supervise

Pursue Opportunity

Transform

Purpose

Effective(Do Right Things)

Inspire

Conversation

Values

Engage People

Commitment

Coach

…3 things distinguish leaders


Managers and leaders do different things, and impact a business in different ways. They differ in at least three key ways…

Change vs. ContinuityWhere managers seek stability now, leaders look down the road, setting themselves and others on a path to the future in spite of the ambiguity and uncertainty of going forward.

People vs. ThingsLeaders recognize their capacity to deliver results is rooted in the capacity of those who choose to follow them. These people have needs and interests they expect to fulfill through their work. Helping them get what they want, helps the business.

Person vs. PositionManagers get things done using the legitimate authority of a position given to them by their organization. Followers choose their leaders, opening themselves to the influence of those they respect, trust, and believe can deliver a better future.

“A leader takes peoplewhere they want to go.

A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go,

but ought to be.”

Rossalynn Carter

“Leadership is the capacity and will to rally

men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires

confidence.”

Bernard Montgomery


…It isn’t what you have


Does position, a lofty title and the authority that goes with it, make you a leader. In hierarchical organizations, most do defer to the “boss”, perhaps out of habit or fear. But borrowing power from their position is a coercive short-cut over-used by some managers to get things done. And, it isn’t leadership.

Are leaders born or made? It is an ages-old question. No doubt some get a head start as leaders due to natural traits or talents . And, all leaders benefit from acquiring new knowledge or skills. Innate ability or learned competence won’t matter though if these advantages are not acted on, if you don’t use them.

Choose to Lead

Another view holds that great events or crisis make leaders. In this thesis, leaders are defined by having these opportunities, lucky to be where they are, when they are. But watch people in crisis. You see some step up, while more step back. So is it the crisis that defines a leader, or is it the actions of leaders in crisis?

Leaders are defined by what they “do”, not what they “have”. Every day, each of us is confronted with “moments of truth”, opportunities to lead by stepping up, influencing others, and moving ourselves, our teams, or our organizations forward.

The leader you are depends on the choices you make in these moments. Choose to act as leader, responsibly, capably, consistently, and others will make the choice to follow your lead. 1

2

4

3

Choose to Learn ……About What’s HappeningObserve, inquire, and listen with an open mind.

Choose to Control……What Only You CanEspecially your own thinking, emotion and behaviour.

Choose to Influence……Whoever Can Help You Allies, decision makers and key stakeholders.

Choose to Let Go……of What You Can’t ChangeDon’t waste your energy on things outside your reach.

“The only thing that will

dependably happen from

the top down is the digging

of your own grave.”

Stan Slap, CEO-Consultant


Ultimately, leaders are chosen by their followers. The perceptions others have of you define the leader you are – they watch what you choose in those moments of truth, then decide to follow, or not. Their expectations, at least in part, define the leader you need to become.

Whether we’re talking about a simple task, a large project, or changing the world, followers expect two key things from their leaders. If you want to have others follow you, prepare to answer questions like those below for them every day, questions about who you are and where you are going.

…Followers – plain and simple


What Makes You a Leader?

“A leader without followers is just someone out taking a walk.”

Mark Goffman, writer “The West Wing”

Followers!

PathPresence

Positive Beliefs About You

CurrentReality

BetterFuture

+Attracted by…

Presence – positive beliefs about who you are as a person.

Are you worthy of my respect?Can I trust you?

Are you helping me grow?Do you care about what I care about?

Can you help me get to where I want to be?

Path – a clear, compelling way forward to a better future.

Is it clear where we’re going?Can we really get there?What can I do to help?

Will it be better for me therethan it will be for me here?

Are you doingwhat you ask of me?


…Learn to play 5 leader roles

Take the First Step: Learn to Lead

The only thing you control in the leader-follower dynamic is your own behaviour – what you choose to do, and how well you do it.

No one is born ready-made to lead. Every leader has strengths that help, and weaknesses that hinder, their efforts to lead. Habits of thinking and acting, developed over a lifetime, can be difficult to undo.

New leaders in particular need to acquire concepts and skills different from what helped them stand out as individual contributors. Past success can be their biggest barrier to doing what’s right as leaders, right now.

Even experienced leaders must constantly improve and develop. A dynamic business environment demands it. What worked yesterday, may not work for you tomorrow.

5 Roles Leaders Play

Model Be responsible in every situation, and learn from each experience.

Partner Connect with others in ways that encourage them to work with you.

Coach Help followers perform at their best and develop to their potential.

SponsorCreate the conditions for high performance by your followers.

Guide Offer a compelling vision of a better future, and apath toward it.

Paths to Leadership is designed specifically for front-line leaders. It offers ways of thinking and acting that prepare an aspiring leader for success in five interrelated domains or roles played by all leaders.

Every leader is different in talent and style, and the situations in which they lead are unique. But the challenges they will face as they develop are somewhat predictable.


ModelYour behaviour is the best evidence for others of your character and capability.

Learn, Then Lead: Be open to new experiences and feedback that challengeyou to improve and grow your capability.

Choose to Lead: Do the “right” thing, responsibly, even when it will be difficult or other paths seem easier.

PartnerFollowers choose their leaders. Be the kind of person others want to work with.

Connect With Others: Nurture influential relationships with others to extend your personal power and capacity.

Have Constructive Conversations: Listen considerately, then speak authentically about what you know, believe and feel.

CoachPeople largely want to do good work. Be the catalyst that helps them do it.

Engage Performers: Facilitate a satisfying, fulfilling connection between the work to be done and those who need to do it.

Empower Capability: Provide the mix of structure and support that allows others to find their own way to high performance.

Challenge Everyone: Negotiate performance promises that draw out the best effort of every performer.

Hold Others Response-Able: Respect every performer’s capacity to choose when confronting breakdowns in their work.

SponsorThe path to change or great results goes through resistance and breakdowns.

Enable High Performance: Champion the interests of your team of followers, while mitigating barriers to their performance.

Collaborate: Problem solve with others to find creative solutions that satisfy the interests of key stakeholders.

GuideSuccess is fleeting. Organizations change only when the people in them change.

Think Strategically: Keep your head up, aware and purposeful, then choose a way forward toward a better future.

Inspire Change: Sustain the focus and energy of others as they work to bring about needed change.

…The Paths to Leadership©


The challenges faced by leaders as they develop are somewhat predictable. We help front-line leaders learn to face these challenges by playing five roles well, and following twelve Paths to Leadership©.


…We can help.


How We HelpLeaders Learn to Lead

Learning to lead takes discipline, time, and just a little courage. There is no short cut, no easy path to the leader you can become or others expect you to be. Most leaders can use some help along the way.

The partners and associates of Key Consulting Group have trained and coached leaders at all levels, on 5 continents, for more than 30 years. We developed Paths to Leadership© to support aspiring leaders as they learn, in the ways they learn today.

We know most of that learning doesn’t happen in a classroom, or by reading a book. Those options can help set you on the right path if they are relevant and ready when you need them. In our workbooks or presentations, we strive to offer just the information you need, in an accessible way, then have you apply it right away to your situation.

Experience…reflecting on successesor breakdowns on the job• Personal coaching• Action learning programs• On-line leader support

Exposure…to the thoughts and actions of good people around you• 360 assessment• Facilitated team sessions• Leader forums

Education…via workshops or reading• Custom workshops• On-line learning• Presentations & keynotes

70%

20%

10%

Our workshops, whether in a physical classroom or virtual forum, are interactive, even fun. They allow lots of opportunity to work with other leaders on common issues.

But, most of what you will learn about leading, you will learn on the job. All our content is available to you on-line, a ready reference for you any time. And, we use the best available communication technology to be sure you can talk to us via phone, email or the web whenever you need personal, one on one help.

Let us know how we can support you on your own path to leadership.


Contact Us Head Office Toll Free:

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Email:

Mail:

888.4KEYINC (453.9462)

403.264.7200

[email protected]

33 Shannon Circle SWCalgary, AlbertaCanada T2Y 2K4

Calgary PartnerDirect:Mobile:Email:

Randy [email protected]

Robert [email protected]

Edmonton Partner:Direct:Mobile:Email:

Don [email protected]

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