Business Nugget
by Robert Morris
There are many books that discuss “leadership.” The Leadership Engine,
written by Noel M. Tichy (with Eli Cohen) and published by HarperBusiness
is one of the best. The subtitle suggests the book’s objective: To explain
“How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level.” According to Tichy,
there are certain “fundamentals” common to winning organizations: “First,
leaders with a proven track record of success take direct responsibility
for the development of other leaders. Second, leaders who develop other
leaders have teachable points of view in the specific areas of ideas, values,
and something I call E-cubed -- emotional energy and edge... Third, leaders
embody their teachable points of view in living stories... Finally, because
winning leaders invest considerable time developing other leaders, they
have well-defined methodologies and coaching and teaching techniques.”
Together, these “fundamentals” create the central metaphor in Tichy’s book:
a machine.
As a “machine”, an organization consists of separate but interdependent
parts; requires lubrication and fuel as well as constant maintenance; and
functions best when utilized to serve the specific purposes for which it
has been designed. The Leadership Engine consists of ten chapters:
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The Leader-Driven Organization
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Why Are Leaders Important?
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Leadership and the Teachable Point of View
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Past as Prologue -- Learning from Experience
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The Heart of Leadership -- It Starts with Ideas
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Values -- Speaking with Words and Actions
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Making It Happen -- Getting Energy Out of Everyone
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Edge -- The Courage to See Reality and Act on It
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Tying It All Together -- Writing your Leadership Story
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Conclusion -- Leading into the Future
The emphasis is on HOW: How various “winning organizations” have build
leaders at every level, and, how any other organization can do so. Tichy
provides key points at the beginning of each chapter, which indicate what
the focus of each chapter will be. Throughout the book, he examines a wide
range of quite different “winning organizations”, all of which illustrate
his basic assertion that leadership can and should be developed at ALL
levels.
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Leaders have ideas, values, energy and edge;
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leaders manage through times of change;
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leaders make things happen;
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leaders are revolutionaries;
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winning leaders are great teachers, make teaching a personal priority and
have a “teachable point of view”;
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winning leaders draw from their past with stories which reveal teachable
points of view;
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winning organizations are built on clear ideas which, leaders make certain,
are current and appropriate, developed within a framework for action at
all levels;
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winning organizations have strong values whose leaders live those values,
making effective use of them as a key competitive tool;
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winning leaders are high-energy people who create energy in others, especially
during periods of transition which create “teachable moments”;
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winning leaders never take the easy way out, preferring to be at the “edge”
when pursuing new (perhaps perilous) opportunities, joined by other risk-takers
who are also not paralyzed by a fear of failure;
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winning leaders view and portray the future as an unfolding drama, creating
scenarios for success while providing “stories” which are dynamic and motivating;
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winning leaders create the future, driven by a passion to develop other
leaders, and know when “it’s time [for them] to leave.”
Do such “winning leaders” exist in the contemporary business world? Of
course: Bossidy, Buffett, Dell, Enrico, Gates, Kelleher, Malone, Pfeiffer,
and Welch to cite but a few. However, with all due respect to these as
well as other great leaders whom Tichy discusses, the single most important
point in The Leadership Engine is that, in any winning organization
(be it corporate, political, athletic, military, or whatever), leadership
must be developed at ALL levels. In the corporate world, for example, at
the front desk where visitors are greeted, in the accounting office where
accounts payable and receivable are processed, in the factory where goods
are manufactured, and in the field where sales personnel nourish relationships
with customers. Any “leadership engine” consists of separate but interdependent
parts. All are important. Indeed essential. Some organizations and their
leaders understand this concept and make a total commitment to developing
such leadership. They “win.” Other organizations and their senior-management
do not. They “lose.” So be it.
One final point. Almost half of The Leadership Engine consists
of a “Handbook for Leaders Developing Leaders.” In it, Tichy provides a
cohesive and comprehensive answer to the question “How to Create a Leadership
Engine?” One useful approach to the “Handbook” is to think of it as a “super”
hardware store and you have an empty toolbox. Examine everything available.
Select only what is most appropriate for your own organization.
Then work with others to assemble the “machine” your organization needs.
In doing so, you and they are providing leadership. And your shared obligation
is to involve as many others as possible, helping them to become leaders
also. If help is needed along the way, it will be reassuring to know that
Tichy has created the equivalent of an operator’s manual to help ensure
maximum performance of your organization’s “leadership engine.”
Order The Leadership Engine here.
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