"Putting leadership on the map"

Our CEO recently forwarded a blog post written by Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn Ferry, entitled "Putting leadership on the map" to our leadership team.  It was both thought-provoking and interesting.  Burnison listed a number of leadership fundamentals that I thought were worth sharing here:

1. Leadership is inspiring others to believe and enabling that belief to become reality.  Burnison believes that this is our primary role as leaders, which is consistent with most of the descriptions of leadership that I've read.

2. It's not about you, but it starts with you.  Burnison writes, "Humility and self-awareness go hand in hand.  If you don't improve yourself, you'll never improve an organization."  In other words, improvement starts with us!

3. Coaches don't win games, players do.  I mostly agree with Burnison here.  Leaders need to surround themselves with talented individuals for sure, but I do think that coaching still matters.

4. Establish the left and right guardrails.  I love this point!  Burnison writes, "Leaders define the mission and values of the organization - then others take it from there."  In other words, leaders should provide the rules of engagement and then get out of the way!  That sounds a lot like the HRO principle of "deference to expertise" to me.

5.  Listen to what you don't want to hear.  I know that I can be a better listener at times.  Active listening is such an important skill for leaders.  Burnison says that "the difference between hearing and listening is comprehending."  While that is certainly true, I think listening to what you don't want to hear means something different, at least to me.  I think what Burnison is saying is that as leaders, we should be open and willing to hear negative feedback and see it as an important growth opportunity.  

6. Learn - always.  As leaders, we should never stop learning.  We should strive towards perfection, even if we may never achieve it.  Burnison writes, "Knowledge is what we know; wisdom is acknowledging what we don't know.  Learning is the bridge between the two."

7.  Communicate to constantly connect with others.  I've been in leadership long enough to recognize that communication is key.  Even if you think that you are overcommunicating, you're probably not communicating enough.

Burnison finishes his post by adding one more important characteristic for leadership - vulnerability.  He talks about the fact that as leaders, we need to find a balance between self-confidence and vulnerability.  As our CEO often says, leaders need to be "hungry, humble, and smart".