Gary Burnison - Lead

CONTENTS

Cover design: Ross/Madrid

Copyright 2013 by Korn/Ferry International. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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To my esteemed colleagues.

THE ABSOLUTES FOR LEADERS

As a coach for my sons basketball team, at the end of every practice I ask a player to attempt a three-point shot. If the player makes the shot, the team gets excused from the last drill of running laps. Last season, we had a great team. There was one player, however, who was a little shorter, a little smaller, and not as athletic as the rest. In fact, this boy, Jason, hadnt scored a single basket all year. But, unlike the others, he had never missed a single practice.

On the final practice before the championship game, I asked the team, Who wants to take the three-point shot? Nine pleading hands flew up; one hand did notJasons. Something compelled me to give him the ball as the others grumbled about the laps they were sure theyd be running.

When Jason shot the ball, it hit the back of the rim, bounced high off the iron, and grazed the basket on the way down, unsuccessfully. Immediately I did something I had never done before: I gave him the ball again. Jason didnt hesitate and the entire team watched as the ball swished through the net. Jasons grin was a mile wide as the other kids jumped up and down in celebration. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Jasons dad with a satisfied smile. Later, he said to me in a voice choked with emotion, I dont care if Jason scores any points on Sunday, that made the entire season for me.

Leadership is making others believe, turning vision into reality.

We did win the championship, but frankly I dont remember the final score or how we did it. All I remember was the beaming smile of a 12-year-old boy and the wet eyes of his father.

Leadership is making others believein themselves, in the organization, in the impossiblethen, translating that belief into reality.

Leadership requires you to forget all the lauded, impressive qualities that helped you climb the ladder and to shift your focus outward; your measure of success will be in what others achieve. Easy to intellectualize, but elusive to actualize, leadership is part strategy, but mostly judgment. Its sense, and sensibility.

Fortunately, there are certain fundamental elements to guide you, elements that are as critical in todays hyper-connected technosphere as they were in the days when contracts were written on the skins of animals.

This book is a compass for discovering these absolutes. Every organization starts with a vision and a PURPOSE the what and the why of its existence. Then comes STRATEGY , the how and, more subtly, the when of its game plan to realize that purpose. PEOPLE are truly the essential element, embracing the purpose and executing the strategy. MEASURE minds the organizations progresswhat is working and what is not. EMPOWER means to delegate to people, not just as individual performers, but as teams aligned with purpose and strategy. When success arrives, keep people motivated with REWARD a celebration of who they are, not just compensation for what theyve done.

Next are the Absolutes that define the activities in which you, as the leader, must constantly engage. They are ANTICIPATE , to make calculated bets about tomorrow; NAVIGATE , to adjust and correct your course in real time; COMMUNICATE , to connect emotionally with others; LISTEN , to welcome the truth and gain trust; and LEARN , which must be a lifelong passion for every leaderall of which culminates with LEAD .

Leadership can be learned and absorbed only by doing, starting with the most important lesson of all: To lead others, you must first lead yourself. May you find in these pages both information and inspiration as you define your leadership patha journey that, ultimately, is about empowering others.

Gary Burnison

CEO, Korn/Ferry International

Chapter 1

The First Absolute for Leaders: LEAD

THE change you want to see in the world starts with you.

Remember the thrilling rush of freedom, the motivating jolt of pride, the first time you pedaled all alone on a two-wheeled bike? As you propelled yourself forward in that glorious moment there was, for most of us, someone looking on that made it possible. In their seemingly modest actions can be found the DNA of powerful leadership: a mode of being that is less about analytics and decision-making, and much more about aligning, motivating, and empowering others.

Your people drive financial performance: Whos on the bikes and how they feel is more important than where those bikes are going. The nearly irrefutable lesson gleaned from over a century of management theory and practicea message reinforced by endless data and anecdotes from the great business gurus like Tom Peters and Jim Collinsis that great companies that get the people part right tend to get everything else right, too.

Fact is, we hyper-focus on numbers because numbers are, in a word, easy. They follow rules; they can be manipulated at will. People, well, not so much.

So heres the question. How do you get your people pedaling with that freedom and pride?

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