Encyclopedia of Leadership

Leadership starts at the top, be this the top of organizations, business units, or project

teams. Effective leaders:

❑ Clearly define results. [☛2.7 Goal Statements]

❑ Balance short- and long-term results in four areas: organizational, employees, cus-

tomers, investors. [☛2.8 Balanced Scorecard]

❑ Are accountable, and hold others accountable, for results. [☛13.3 Accountability]

❑ Identify and apply the leadership attributes and practices needed to achieve results.

❑ Assess competency gaps for individuals and groups, and provide training to fill those

gaps. [☛14.3 Needs Analysis]

❑ Realign systems (e.g., compensation programs) to develop desired leadership attributes

and produce business results (Not infrequently, old systems set up barriers to employ-

ee performance.) [☛2.1 Systems Thinking, 5.6 Aligning Systems]

❑ Communicate, communicate, communicate (including plenty of two-way communi-

cation so others can provide feedback for midcourse corrections). [☛ 8.2 Direct

Communication]

❑ Consistently model the attributes and behaviors they encourage others to practice.

[☛1.8 Recursive Leadership]

❑ Follow through on promises and action plans. (The difference between a fad and a sus-

tained success is ongoing follow-through.) [☛13.3 Accountability]

HOW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL

“It is faddish to think of leaders as people who master competencies and emanate character.

Leaders do much more than demonstrate character. ...Effective leaders get results.”

—Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger, and Norm Smallwood, RESULTS-BASED LEADERSHIP

Effective leaders balance results in four areas (remember, these are more than financial measures):

organizational results, employee results, customer or client results, and investor or stakeholder

results. The point is to nurture the goose that is expected to lay the golden eggs. Thus, a results-

based leader:

➠ Clearly sets out the balanced results expected—organizational, employee, customer,

and investor.

➠ Defines the leadership attributes needed to achieve those results.

➠ Ensures that organizational systems (e.g., work design, compensation) are aligned to

achieve these results.

➠ Follows through by rewarding achievement and holding all leaders in the organization

accountable for desired results.

22 SECTION 1 FOUNDATIONALCONCEPTS