High-performance cultures require leaders who leverage their self-awareness, understand their leadership style and place value on the power of strong relationships. They are fully aware that sustained effort and achieving project results are a function of interaction and interdependence. They know that developing strong working relationships is one of the keys to sustained success. 

Self-delusion and denial are always helpful anesthetics in these moments of dramatic change.  However, there are always those who see what’s happening and are ready to take action. 

With so much attention in the news about the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, it struck me that most of the testimonials gushing forth reflect upon his leadership traits. Here are a few that I've noted so far:

·         His commitment to public service

·         He did not care about who got credit as long as the job got done

·         Always encouraging

·         His relentless pursuit to make the world a better place, rather than to pursue personal advancement

·         Countless displays of empathy towards others, especially in their times of need

·         Have fun!

·         Keep things in perspective

·         Politically sensitive

·         Pushing on in spite of weaknesses

·         Triumph through tragedy

·         Sharing a vision

·         Winning, not because of being the smartest but through tactics and being prepared

·         His vitality

I believe that Ted Kennedy truly found his place in the Senate and made a profound impact on the lives of many—both the colleagues and adversaries he worked with as well as those whose voice he set out to represent.

For us in today’s global organizations, productivity and efficiency demand effective collaboration within and across functional, physical and hierarchical boundaries.  Leaders are concerned with external relationships but often pay little attention to assessing and supporting linkages among employees within their own organizations.  These “invisible” interaction networks don’t appear on any formal organizational chart—yet significantly affect performance and innovation.  While companies know interaction networks are important, they are not aware of how these networks really work.  Because of this, a great deal of time and money are wasted on blanket approaches to promote collaboration that yield disappointing results.

Historically, organizations have focused on two processes—material and information.  We have shifted from an industrial age to an age of information…and now to connectivity.   Conscientious managers have been looking for efficiencies and have done a great job.  Technology has exploded…the world has changed...the game has changed….but management science has not kept up.  Overlooked is a third process that is actually senior to the first two, and that is the interactions among individuals—what’s happening at the micro level of interaction.  However, improving interaction effectiveness is not just something a leader can declare, like “be more innovative.”  It calls for creating an environment that supports open communications and generating structures that encourage accountability and collaboration.  Organizations are run by processes, and people run the processes.

In our work as leaders and managers we are always evolving.  There is a natural drift of evolution.  The question is, are we evolving fast enough?  Or, do we need to accelerate our leadership and managerial evolution by design in order to get the results we are chartered to produce?  That means we need to shift from just managing ourselves to leading for results, where it is necessary to interact with other people.  Adopting the best traits of leaders like Senator Kennedy certainly helps.

Randy Englund, Englund Project Management Consultancy, www.englundpmc.com

 

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Develop yourself as a leader using the suggestions in this paper, as well as Randy's suggestions in Leading With Power. Make sure everyone on your team is effective at speaking up when they see an issue, so they can share the leadership load.