On March 16, Jim Kouzes held a webinar entitled “Enduring Truths of Leadership”. We were fortunate to again have Howard Morgan serve as facilitator and event moderator.
The topic of this webinar was leadership, and Jim spoke from his 25 years of research and experience in the field.
But first he started with a motto from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a leader who knew some tough times: “Let unconquerable gladness dwell.”
Jim then discussed the importance of leadership in difficult times. Indeed, in a quick scan of historical crises and the leaders who emerged from those periods, the point was made that great challenges provide the opportunity for great leadership. What’s more, by overcoming difficulties we emerge stronger and better than before. Thus, we should be optimistic about the economic crisis we are in now. Leaders arise in times of adversity, challenge, change and difficulty.
From there, Jim went on to build our ideas about what constitutes leadership and where we can find it. The surveys he and colleague Barry Posner have conducted in their research closely tracked with the spot polls Jim did throughout the webinar.
We seem to have an innate understanding of the attributes of leadership:
Honesty, Forward Looking, Inspiring, Competent. But underlying those attributes are the core components of Credibility and Trust. As Jim put it, “If you don’t believe the messenger, you won’t believe the message.”
Jim built on that understanding by describing leadership as existing on the level of the personal. A leader’s personal values support or bolster their credibility and connection with others. Showing the personal side of a leader increases that sense of trust and commitment. Modeling leadership behaviors is the best means of spreading those qualities in others. That’s why relationships are so important.
Finally, Jim talked about the importance of developing leadership practices and having the discipline to put in the time every day to improve. Leaders are in the business of bringing others to higher levels of performance, and one of the key ways to do so is to improve their own performance, too. Jim suggested a minimum of 3 hours per day is required to get better, let alone maintain, performance levels in any endeavor, including leadership. And yet, one of the areas that most leaders fall down in is actively seeking feedback from those around them to identify the areas they need to personally work on.
It’s a role and a calling that requires much work and dedication. But from Jim’s perspective and experience, there’s one reason why leaders are willing to devote themselves to getting better and improving the work and lives of those around them. It comes down to love.
He left us with the message: Love and Lead Em.
Attendees will be receiving copies of Jim’s book, The Leadership Challenge, as a bonus for joining us. Jim has kindly also provided us this article titled coaching-for-credibility, which is excerpted from The Art & Practice of Leadership Coaching.
