The Leadership

Challenge:
Managing the
Knowledge Worker

Based on Based on Stephen Covey’s the 8th Habit, (www.the8thhabit.com)

Overview
• Context
• Leadership and Organizations
• Leadership and/or Management
• Meeting the Leadership Challenge
• Conclusion
The Winning Organization

Sustained Superior
Performance

Achieving Building
Results Capacity

Leadership
Execution of Individual
& Management
Key Priorities Effectiveness
Development
Knowledge & Ignorance

Circle
of
Knowledge

We believe that as knowledge expands,

ignorance decreases
Knowledge & Ignorance
In fact, as knowledge expands,
Our ignorance also increases!

Circle
of
Knowledge
Whole Person Paradigm:
Four domains

MIND

SPIRIT
HEART BODY
 Four Needs of People

Growth & Development

To Learn
(MIND)

Meaning and contribution

To Leave A Legacy
(SPIRIT)
Relationships Survival
To Love To Live
(Heart) (BODY)
Four Intelligences/Capacities
IQ
Mental
(MIND)

SQ
SPIRITUAL
(Spirit)
EQ PQ
Emotional Physical
(HEART) (BODY)
Habit: the intersection of knowledge,
attitudes and skills

Knowledge

Skill Attitude
• In everyone’s life at some time,
• our inner fire goes out.
• It is then burst into flames by an
encounter with another human
being.
• We should be thankful for those
people who rekindle the inner
spirit.
• These are LEADERS
Leadership Defined
• Communicating to people,
• their worth and potential,
• so clearly that,
• they come to see it,
• in themselves
Organizations
• Made up of individuals who have a
relationship and a shared purpose
• The key to understanding organizational
behaviour is not to study organizational
behaviour per se, but to understand
human nature
• Filled with problems
• Most of the problems are the same
Chronic problems in organizations
Backbiting, Ambiguity,
Infighting, Hidden agendas,
No shared Political games,
information Chaos
No Shared
Vision/Values
(MIND)

Low Trust
(SPIRIT)

Disempowerment Misalignment
(HEART) (BODY)

Apathy,
Rivalry,
Moonlighting,
Co-dependency,
Anger,
Fear
The Industrial Age Response: Managing People
as Things
No need to see the
The manager future,
knows best, Just do what’s told
Makes all the and
important
decisions
RULES follow the rules

BOSS
CONTROL EFFICIENCY

Workers cannot
Systems
be trusted,
designed for
Use carrot &
efficiency
stick
Management and/or Leadership?

Leadership Management
Doing the right things Doing things right

Coping with change Coping with complexity

A sense of movement Maintaining order & organization

Concerned with what things Concerned with how things get

mean to people done
Architects Builders

Creation of a common vision Controlling

Contrasts

Leadership Management
People Things
Spontaneity Structure
Empowerment Control
Effectiveness Efficiency
Programmer Program
Investment Expense
Transformation Transaction
Direction Speed
Purposes Methods
Principles Practices
“Is the ladder against the Climbing the ladder fast
right wall?”
• Both are vital – either one without
the other is insufficient
• Tendency to overemphasized
leadership and neglect the
importance of management
• Why – Vastly overmanaged and
Desperately underled
What Do Successful Leaders Do?

SETDIRECTION
SET DIRECTION
(vision,customers,
(vision, customers,future)
future)

DEMONSTRATE
DEMONSTRATE
PERSONALCHARACTER
PERSONAL CHARACTER
(habits,integrity,
(habits, integrity,trust,
trust,analytical
analyticalthinking)
thinking)

ENGENDER
ENGENDER
MOBILIZE
MOBILIZE ORGANIZATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONAL
INDIVIDUALCOMMITMENT
INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT
CAPABILITY
CAPABILITY
(engageothers,
(engage others,share
sharepower)
power)
(buildteams,
(build teams,manage
managechange)
change)
Four Roles of Leadership

Pathfinding
(MIND)
trust

trust Modeling trust

(SPIRIT)
Empowering Alignment
(HEART) trust (BODY)
Four Roles of Leadership
• Modeling (Conscience) – Set a good
example
• Pathfinding (Vision) – Jointly determine
course
• Aligning (Discipline) – Set up and
manage systems to stay on course
• Empowering (Passion) – Focus talent on
results not methods and then get out of
people’s way and give help as
requested
4 Roles of leadership
Modeling Inspires trust without expecting it
(Personal moral authority)

Pathfinding Creates order without demanding it

(Visionary moral authority)

Aligning Nourishes both vision and empowerment

without proclaiming them
(Institutional moral authority)
Empowering Unleashes human potential without
externally motivating it
(Cultural moral authority)
Four Qualities of Personal Leadership

Vision
(Pathfinding)

Conscience
(Modeling)

Passion Discipline
(Empowering) (Alignment)
Four Primary Management Practices

Strategy
(Pathfinding)

Culture
(Modeling)

Execution Structure
(Empowering) (Alignment)
Excel in four primary management
practices
1. Strategy – Devise and maintain a
clearly stated, focused strategy
2. Execution – Develop and maintain
flawless operation execution
3. Culture – Develop and maintain a
performance-oriented culture
4. Structure – Develop and maintain
a fast, flexible, flat organization
FOCUS – Modeling and Pathfinding

1. The Voice of Influence – Being a model

involves finding your own voice first and
choosing the ATTITUDE of initiative
2. The Voice of Trustworthiness – You cannot
have trust without trustworthiness;
KNOWLEDGE of this principle is the doorway
to influence
3. The Voice and Speed of Trust – Also involves
developing strong relationship SKILLS that
build trust
4. One Voice – Creating with others a common
VISION about your highest priorities and
values
EXECUTION – Aligning and
Empowering
5. The Voice of Execution – Aligning
goals and enabling systems for results
6. The Voice of Empowerment –
Releasing passion and talent, clearing
the way before them and getting out
of the way; “Where the rubber meets
the road”
 Level 5 Leadership
Executive
LEVEL 5 Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of
personal humility and professional will

Effective Leader
LEVEL 4 Catalyses commitment to vigorous pursuit of clear and compelling vision

LEVEL 3 Competent Manager

Organizes people and resources

LEVEL 2 Contributing Team Member

Contributes to the achievement of group objectives

LEVEL 1 Highly Capable Individual

Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and
good work habits
Conclusion
• Leadership requires distinct
behaviours and attitudes
• Before you become a leader,
success is all about growing
yourself
• When you become a leader,
success is all about growing others
Paradoxes

• Leadership is full of them

• Performing balancing acts every
day is leadership
• The most important is managing
the short-long paradox –
managing for short term results
while keeping in mind long term
goals
Are Leaders Born or Made?

• Both
• Some characteristics like IQ and
energy are innate
• Some like self-confidence, trying
something, getting it wrong and
learning from it, or getting it right and
gaining self-confidence to do it
again, only better can be learned
 Leaders
• Can only exist and accomplish
extraordinary goals because of
supportive followers!
• Both need each other to achieve
the group’s vision and established
mission
Leadership

• Can be best understood by

turning the coin over and
studying followership.
• Why do people follow leaders?
If we can understand this, then
we will be a long way down the
road to creating those followers
and hence becoming an
effective leader.
• People don't just follow anyone
• You can't just say 'follow me' and
expect people to follow out of the
goodness of their hearts
• You have to give them good
reason for them to follow
Bottom Line
• The best leaders know how to follow
• We must all learn to follow before we
can lead
Review
• Context
• Leadership and Organizations
• Leadership and/or Management
• Meeting the Leadership Challenge