In Search of Excellence Revisited

Besides How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, the first real business book of substance I read and studied was the groundbreaking, In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman.

The common sense success characteristics practiced by excellent companies and discussed throughout In Search of Excellence — like staying close to the customer, productivity through people, hands-on value driven, stick to the knitting — unquestionably captured my imagination and focused my thinking in the earliest days of my professional career. As my attention and focus shifted to studying and understanding the power of a properly prepared leader, I remember distinctly one of the most personally relevant aspects of their work.

Skipping the One Thing In Search of a Thousand

The authors suggested far too many companies regularly engage in what amounts to a fool’s errand. They feverishly form committees, hire consultants and chase the latest management fads, searching for that one thing (my emphasis added) bound to guarantee a thousand percent improvement for the company and its fortunes going forward. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of organizations, large and small, that one thing simply doesn’t exist.

Conversely, a handful of successful organizations and the steady, forward thinking individuals that lead them continually register growth and improvement year in and year out as a result of discovering a valuable truth that lays hidden in plain sight. This truth is so simple most organizations choose to overlook, disregard or discount its value completely.

The foundational truth that leaders ought to know is this: We should abandon our fruitless search for that one thing that might change our fortunes by a thousand percent and instead turn our attention to the one thousand things that can be improved one percent consistently, thus assuring never ending continual improvement.

From Leaders Ought To Know:11 Ground Rules for Common Sense Leadership, here are just a few of the thousands of things leaders can improve one percent for dramatic results:

* Take action on behalf of our employees.

* Stop manipulating to get results.

* Take responsibility for our mistakes.

* Ask what our followers expect of us.

* Maintain honesty and confidentiality.

* Be consistent.

* Control our emotions.

* Apologize when we mess up.

This is just the tip of the iceberg — what small changes can you suggest that would guarantee leadership excellence revisited over and over? Please share your ideas with us.

Phillip Van Hooser
Leadership Expert, Keynote Speaker
Author of Leaders Ought to Know: 11 Ground Rules for Common Sense Leadership

Two Ways Leaders Get to the Top

two ways leaders get to the top Most people who’ve known me for a long while know that I’ve been driven to excel in almost everything I do. Note, I didn’t say that I actually excel in everything I do; I said I’ve been driven to excel in almost everything I do. As a young boy I took to heart my father’s advice: “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.”

As I began the task of setting professional goals for myself, then creating specific plans to achieve those goals, I began to realize that my quest for goal achievement would inevitably intersect with others doing the same. What then?

Two Ways Leaders Get to the Top

From my thirty-plus year study of leaders—good and bad—I’ve discovered there are multiple routes that can lead to personal leadership achievement. The first approach may be hard for some to accept initially. Frankly, it was for me. While still young and naive, I found it hard to believe that individuals could actually rise through an organization and arrive at the top by intentionally, methodically climbing over others, holding others back and un-apologetically promoting themselves and their own personal agendas over others. The very thought was distasteful to me on several levels. Nevertheless, I found it to be true. I came to know people in top leadership positions who prided themselves on their ability to “play the game” and to adroitly manipulate circumstances—and people—to achieve their personal goals with little or no regard for friend or foe.

Fortunately, I’ve also studied individuals who have taken a different route on their way to the top. These thoughtful leaders never varied in their open commitment to support the efforts of their followers, encouraging, instructing, directing and praising these same followers at every turn. The result? Eventually, followers respond in such a way that propels their leaders to the top based on the team’s achievement of their collective goals. What’s more, the leadership foundation is always firmer and more stable when the leader is lifted up by his or her followers than when he or she must continually strive to stay on top as others are praying for and plotting their ultimate fall.

As I describe in Chapter 7 of Leaders Ought to Know: 11 Ground Rules for Common Sense Leadership, when followers realize their leader is focused on what can be personally gained from the work relationship, followers become reluctant to accept or aid his or her lead. (Download a sample chapter now)

Yes, there are two distinct ways leaders get to the top — each with advantages and consequences. In your opinion, what’s the best leadership approach to the top? Feel free to share your insights here.

Phillip Van Hooser
Leadership Expert, Keynote Speaker
Author of Leaders Ought to Know: 11 Ground Rules for Common Sense Leadership

3 Truths on Transformational Leadership

3 Truths on Transformational Leadership So many leaders inadvertently begin their organizational transformations in the wrong place. In this latest Leaders Ought to Know blog post, my colleague Dr Jim Harris discusses why for organizational transformation to be successful, leaders need to understand the truths about transformational leadership first.

How Leaders Handle Favoritism

How leaders handle favoritism impacts how they are perceived as a leader. Think your favorites like the special treatment? In this latest Leaders Ought to Know blog post, I explore why leaders should set standards then expect everyone — not just their favorites — to perform at those levels.

Leaders Say Yes to Success

Dead set against taking on a new opportunity? In my latest Leaders Ought to Know blog post, I explore why saying “yes” may lead to your success.

Avoiding Common Leadership Pitfalls

There are many ways a leader can fail – many are obvious, some not so obvious. In my latest Leaders Ought to Know blog post, I discuss ways wise leaders acknowledge and plan for avoiding common leadership pitfalls.

In Search of Excellence Revisited

Two Ways Leaders Get to the Top

Two Ways Leaders Get to the Top

3 Truths on Transformational Leadership

How Leaders Handle Favoritism

Leaders Say Yes to Success

Avoiding Common Leadership Pitfalls

Send a letter

Ground Rules for Leaders newsletter