Value #5
360-DEGREE LEADERS POSSESS
QUALITIES EVERY
ORGANIZATION NEEDS
When I was outlining this book, I talked to a friend about the whole concept of 360-Degree Leadership, and he asked, “What makes a 360-Degree Leader different from any other kind of a leader?” When I started to explain the concept of leading up, across, and down, he said, “Okay, but why are they able to lead in every direction? What makes them tick?”
I chewed on his question for a while as we talked about it, and I finally landed this answer: “360-Degree Leaders have certain qualities that enable them to lead in every direction, and that is what makes them valuable to an organization.”
“You need to put that in the book,” he advised, “because people can try to do all the right actions, but if they don’t embrace those qualities internally, they may never get it.”
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it before, but what adds greater value to the people around you: what you say or what you are? You may not be aware of it, but you can actually add value to others simply by possessing the right qualities. The higher you go in an organization, the more that applies.
360-Degree Leaders, as I envision them, possess qualities that every organization wants to see in all of its employees, but especially in its leaders. Those qualities are adaptability, discernment, perspective, communication, security, servanthood, resourcefulness, maturity, endurance, and countability.
ADAPTABILITY—QUICKLY ADJUSTS TO CHANGE
People from the middle down are never the first to know anything in an organization. They are usually not the decision makers or policy writers. As a result, they must learn to adapt quickly.
When it comes to leading in the middle, the more quickly you can adapt to change, the better it will be for the organization. Here’s why. All organizations contain early, middle, and late adapters. The early adapters are won over by new ideas quickly, and they are ready to run with them. Middle adapters take more time. And then the late adapters slowly (and sometimes reluctantly) accept the change.
Since you, as a leader in the middle, are going to be asked to help the people who follow you to accept the change, you need to process change quickly—the quicker the better. That may mean there will be times when you must embrace a change before you are even ready to do so emotionally. In such cases, the key is your ability to trust your leaders. If you can trust them, you will be able to do it. Just keep reminding yourself, Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape.
Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape.
DISCERNMENT—UNDERSTANDS THE REAL ISSUES
The president of the United States, an old priest, a young mountain climber, and the world’s smartest man were riding together on a private plane when it suddenly suffered engine trouble. The pilot scrambled from the cockpit saying, “We’re going down; save yourselves!” He then jumped out of the plane and activated his parachute.
The four passengers looked around but found only three parachutes.
The president took one and—as he jumped—said, “I must save myself for the sake of national security.”
The world’s smartest man grabbed one and jumped, saying, “I am an invaluable resource to the world and must save my intellect.”
The old priest looked at the mountain climber and said, “Save yourself, my son. I’ve been in the Lord’s service for forty years, and I’m not afraid to meet my Maker.”
“No sweat, Padre,” answered the young man. “The world’s smartest man just jumped with my backpack!”
Good leaders cut through the clutter to see the real issues. They know what really matters. There’s an old saying that a smart person believes only half of what he hears, but a really smart person knows which half to believe. 360-Degree Leaders cultivate that ability.
PERSPECTIVE—SEES BEYOND THEIR OWN VANTAGE POINT
Jack Welch said, “Leadership is seeing opportunity in tough times.” That ability is a function of perspective. One of the advantages of being a leader in the middle of the organization is that you can see more than others do. Most people have the ability to see things on their own level and one level removed from their own.
“Leadership is seeing opportunity in tough times.”
—JACK WELCH
The people at the bottom can see and understand things on their own level and, if they’re perceptive, also on yours. The people at the top can see and understand things on their own level and on one below theirs, which would be yours. But as a leader in the middle, you should be able to see and understand not only things on your own level but also one level up and one level down. That gives you a really unique advantage—and opportunity.
COMMUNICATION—LINKS TO ALL LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATION
Because you have a unique perspective and understanding of the organization that others above and below you may not have, you should strive to use your knowledge not only for your own advantage but also to communicate both up and down the chain of command. We often think of communication in organizations as being primarily top-down. Leaders at the top cast vision, set direction, reward progress, and so forth. Good communication, however, is a 360-Degree proposition. In fact, sometimes the most critical communication is from the bottom up.
In Leading Up (Crown, 2001), Michael Useem gives examples of important messages that were sent “up the chain of command.” Some messages were heeded and acted upon with positive effect. For example, when trade deputy Charlene Barshefsky came to the table to negotiate a trade deal between the U.S. and China, allowing China to enter the World Trade Organization, Barshefsky had previously listened to concerns of business and labor leaders, and she represented those interests at the table. The result was a successful negotiation.
Other messages that were sent “up” were ignored. Useem says that when General Roméo Dallaire, commander of the United Nations’ troops in Rwanda, tried to persuade his superiors to let him take aggressive action to head off what he saw as the impending threat of genocide, his request was denied. The result was disastrous—the death of more than 800,000 people as the Hutus slaughtered the Tutsis.
“The biggest job in getting any movement off the ground is to keep together the people who form it.”
—MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The biggest job in getting any movement off the ground is to keep together the people who form it. This task requires more than a common aim; it demands a philosophy that wins and holds the people’s allegiance; and it depends upon open channels of communication between the people and their leaders.”
SECURITY—FINDS IDENTITY IN SELF, NOT POSITION
I love the story of Karl, who enjoyed a good laugh at his office after he attached a small sign to his door—“I’m the Boss!” The laughter was even louder when he returned from lunch and saw that someone had made an addition to his sign. Next to it was a yellow Post-it note on which someone had scribbled, “Your wife called and said she wants her sign back.”1
It takes a secure person to be a good leader in the middle of an organization. In our culture, people ask, “What do you do?” not, “Who are you?” or, “How are you making a difference?” Most people place too much emphasis on titles and position instead of on impact.
But if you have been effective as a leader in the middle for any length of time, you understand that your role is important. Organizations don’t succeed without leaders who do their job well in the middle. 360-Degree Leaders must try to be secure enough in who they are not to worry about where they are.
The true measure of leaders is not the number of people who serve them but the number of people they serve.
If you are ever tempted to spend too much time and energy on getting out of the middle, then change your focus. Instead, put your effort toward reaching your potential and doing the most good you can where you are. Anytime you focus on developing your position instead of yourself, you are in effect asking, Am I becoming the person others want me to be? But if you focus on developing yourself instead of your title or position, then the question you will repeatedly ask is, Am I becoming all I can be?
SERVANTHOOD—DOES WHATEVER IT TAKES
I believe the true measure of leaders is not the number of people who serve them but the number of people they serve. 360-Degree Leaders adopt an attitude of servant first, leader second. Everything they do is measured in light of the value it can add. They serve the mission of the organization and lead by serving those on the mission with them.
Robert Greenleaf, founder of Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, gave an excellent perspective on this: “The servant-leader is a servant first. It all begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant—first to make sure that the other people’s highest priority needs are served.”
How do you know whether you are motivated by the desire to serve as a leader? It’s actually very simple. You have the heart of a servant if it doesn’t bother you to serve others. If you lack a servant’s attitude, then it grates on you when you do have to serve.
RESOURCEFULNESS—FINDS CREATIVE WAYS TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN
With presses set to run three million copies of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 convention speech, the speech’s publisher discovered that permission had not been obtained to use photos of Roosevelt and his running mate, Governor Hiram Johnson of California. And that was a problem because copyright law put the penalty for such an oversight at one dollar per copy.
The quick-thinking chairman of the campaign committee was a resourceful leader. He dictated a telegram to the Chicago studio that had taken the pictures: “Planning to issue three million copies of Roosevelt speech with pictures of Roosevelt and Johnson on cover. Great publicity opportunity for photographers. What will you pay us to use your photographs?”
The reply: “Appreciate opportunity, but can pay only $250.” The deal was done, the presses ran, and a potential disaster was averted.
Leaders in the middle of an organization need to be especially resourceful, because they have less authority and fewer resources. If you desire to be an effective 360-Degree Leader, then get used to doing more with less.
MATURITY—PUTS THE TEAM BEFORE SELF
How do you define maturity? In the context of leadership, I define it as “putting the team before oneself.” Nobody who possesses an unrelenting me-first attitude is able to develop much influence with others. To lead others, you need to put the team first.
I recently read a story about a group of principals in the Nashville school system who realized that for their students to succeed, they needed to employ a bilingual specialist. The only problem was that there was no money in their budgets to do it. What was their solution? They set aside the money that would have been used for their own raises to hire the person they needed. The team and the children they support were more important to them than personal gain. That’s mature leadership!
In leadership, maturity is putting the team before oneself.
ENDURANCE—REMAINS CONSISTENT IN CHARACTER AND COMPETENCE OVER THE LONG HAUL
A couple of years ago when I was in Africa teaching on leadership, I had the opportunity to go on a photo safari. It was an incredible experience. One of the things we did while out in the bush was follow, for about an hour, a pair of cheetahs that were hunting. Cheetahs are amazing animals. They are the fastest land animals on the planet, with the ability to run at an amazing seventy miles per hour. But cheetahs are pure sprinters. If they don’t run down their prey with their first burst, then they go hungry. The reason they can’t run long is that they have small hearts.
360-Degree Leaders can’t afford to have small hearts. With all the challenges that come to leaders—especially leaders in the middle—leadership is an endurance race. To succeed, 360-Degree Leaders need to respond well to challenges and keep responding well.
COUNTABILITY—CAN BE COUNTED ON WHEN IT COUNTS
In The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, one of my favorite laws is the Law of Countability: “Teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts.” I love that law not only because it is true and very important for team building, but also because it gave me the opportunity to make up a word. I think countability really captures the idea of people being able to depend on one another no matter what.
When you trust a leader, when he or she possesses countability, it has greater value than just knowing you can count on that leader. It means you really do count on them. You depend on them for your success. You’re in it together, and you will fail or succeed as a team. That kind of character really makes a difference in a culture where most people have an every-man-for-himself attitude.
I believe most leaders in the middle of organizations don’t get enough credit, because the middle is where most organizations succeed or fail. The leaders at the top can make only so big an impact on any organization, and the workers in the trenches can do only so much. They are often more limited by the leaders above them than they are by resources or their own talent. Everything truly does rise and fall on leadership. If you want your organization to succeed, then you need to succeed as a 360-Degree Leader.
One of the finest examples I’ve ever encountered that shows the value and impact of a leader in the middle can be found in the life of General George C. Marshall. When most people think of the leadership that won World War II for the Allies, they think of leaders like Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. And while I acknowledge that the war would not have been won without those two great leaders, I also believe it would not have been won without the effective 360-Degree Leadership of Marshall.
Marshall was always a good soldier, and everywhere he served, he led well—up, across, and down. He attended the Virginia Military Institute, where he graduated as first captain. He went on to serve in the infantry in the U.S. Army. Marshall was such a good student and influenced his superiors so much that after finishing first in his class at the School of the Line at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then taking a more advanced course, he was kept as an instructor.
Marshall never failed to add value wherever he served—in the Philippines (two tours); in France during World War I; as a senior aide to General Pershing during a tour in China; as the chief of instruction at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia; as well as at other posts. It’s been said that Marshall “rose through the ranks of the military with a record of achievement rarely equaled by any other.”2
Marshall’s career was stellar, but you can really see him making a significant impact as the appointed U.S. Army chief of staff. From that position, he led up to the president, he led across to the other Allied commanders, and he led down with his own senior officers.
When he entered that office, the United States’ military forces were anemic and ill equipped. All the branches of service combined comprised fewer than 200,000 people. With war breaking out in Europe, Marshall knew what he needed to do—build a large, well-prepared, and powerfully equipped army. And he set about the task immediately. In four years’ time, Marshall expanded the military to a well-trained and well-equipped force of 8,300,000.3 Winston Churchill called Marshall “the organizer of victory.”
That alone would make Marshall a hero of World War II, but that wasn’t his only contribution. He worked tirelessly throughout the war and continually showed an ability to lead up, across, and down. President Roosevelt found his advice invaluable and said that he could not sleep unless he knew Marshall was in the country. And Roosevelt requested Marshall’s presence at every major war conference, from Argentia, Newfoundland, in 1941, to Potsdam in 1945.4
Marshall continually had to lead across in the area of military strategy. He is credited by some for ensuring cooperation between the Allied forces during the war. He went head-to-head against other generals when it came to strategy too. MacArthur wanted the United States to shift its primary focus to the Pacific theater of operations before defeating Germany. The British wanted to employ what was called the Mediterranean strategy against Hitler’s forces. But Marshall was convinced that to win the war, the Allies had to cross the English Channel and engage the Germans in France.5
Marshall won everyone over, and for a year he and his general planned the invasion of Normandy. After the war, Churchill said of Marshall: “Hitherto I had thought of Marshall as a rugged soldier and a magnificent organizer and builder of armies—the American Carnot [a man known as the “organizer of victory” for the French Revolution]. But now I saw that he was a statesman with a penetrating and commanding view of the whole scene.”6
Marshall was also as effective leading down as he was leading up and across. The people who served under him held a deep respect for him. After the war, General Dwight D. Eisenhower said to Marshall, “In every problem and in every test I have faced during the war years, your example has been an inspiration and your support has been my greatest strength. My sense of obligation to you is equaled only by the depth of pride and satisfaction as I salute you as the greatest soldier of your time and a true leader of democracy.”7
Even after the war, Marshall continued his influence as a 360-Degree Leader. He was asked to serve as secretary of state by President Truman. And when a plan was needed to rebuild the countries of Europe in the wake of such a devastating war, Marshall gave his support in a speech at Harvard University to what he called the European Recovery Plan. I’ve read that when President Truman’s aides wanted to call it the Truman Plan, the president wouldn’t hear of it. He valued and respected his secretary of state’s leadership so much that he called it the Marshall Plan.
There are not a lot of people about whom you can say that if he or she had not lived, the face of the world would look very different. Yet that is true for George Marshall. Europe, Asia, and the United States are different from what they would have been without his influence. There are few better examples of 360-Degree Leadership. In the end, Marshall’s influence was so great and his service so selfless that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the only professional soldier in history to whom it has been given.
We can’t all hope to make a global impact as Marshall did. But that isn’t important. What matters is that we are willing to do what it takes to make a positive impact wherever we find ourselves in life—to add value in any way we can to others. I believe there is no better way to increase your influence and improve your chances of doing something significant than to become a 360-Degree Leader. As a 360-Degree Leader you can influence others no matter where you are in the organization, no matter what title or position you have, no matter what kind of people you work with. I hope you will keep working at it, and keep making a positive impact.
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