We have witnessed major challenges and tragedies this past year. Think of the ongoing difficulties that both business and political leaders encounter in addressing the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. Millions of people continue to be affected by the lack of leadership prior, during, and after the crisis. We have heard about ethical transgressions in sports, business and government. Think Lance Armstrong. Think Pierre Duhaime the former CEO of SNC-Lavalin. Think Joe Fontana, Rob Ford, and Gerald Tremblay. And what about the shootings at the movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado and Sandy Hook Elementary School which are top of mind. We incessantly discuss the big issues of our generation: climate change, racial unrest and political uprising, the attack on basic human rights, and the widening gap between the haves and the have nots. Yet at some point we need to move beyond the rhetoric and move towards concrete action.
As we reflect on these crucible events, at home, at the water-cooler, in schools, in churches, and in the political arena. Experts come to together to form committees, conferences and summits. People will inevitably ask the obvious yet important questions. How could this have happened? What could we have done to prevent this from happening? Who owns what part of the problem? What lessons can we bring forward? How would we evaluate progress? And, perhaps most striking, we hear calls for leadership and bold action.
Now more than any time perhaps before we turn to our leaders to guide us to give us strength and to provide direction. We want to hear from those in leadership positions. They express their shock and sadness at the turn of events and offer their prayers. Their speeches are eloquent and moving. They use words to communicate their intentions to act. We see this unfold almost every time something tragic occurs in our society.
And yet speeches and measured words alone are not the true markings of good leadership. Let me be very clear. Leaders must produce tangible and compelling results. True leaders need to win - they need to make a difference in the lives of those they lead. There really is no way around this - you can't be a leader if you don't deliver your best performance and produce results. Leaders cannot take shortcuts. You can certainly call yourself a leader. You can even don the mask of a leader or fashion yourself to fit a popular caricature of a modern leader. You may be elected or appointed leader by the people. But, at the end of the day, if you don't take care of your people and achieve the goals you set out to achieve, then simply put you are not a leader. There is no credit for trying. There's only credit in mission accomplishment.
Leaders should not give excuses. They should not point fingers but should have the courage to stand up and be accountable; to stand up and put forth meaningful solutions to the ills facing organizations and society. Unfortunately, these days the word leader is sprinkled liberally everywhere. This is a problem because it devalues the word. In sum, practising leadership is quite different than being a leader.
There have been few examples of good leadership in recent memory. The problems our leadership is discussing today around issues such as violence, climate change, social justice, economic prosperity, homelessness, and mental health are the same issues leaders of yesterday faced. Leaders can talk - it costs little. But a failure to implement action has long term consequences for society. So we are left with the question: what makes a good leader?
In assessing leaders, we must always ask three questions. First, do they have the competencies to be a leader? Second, do they have the commitment to be a leader? Are leaders prepared to do the really hard work of leadership and deliver on the goals they set out to achieve? And third, do they have the character to be a good leader? In other words, do they have the values, traits and virtues that others will use to determine if they are good leaders?
Of these three questions, the last one has received the least attention. Yet character is such an important element of leadership that it should not and cannot be ignored. Character fundamentally shapes how we connect with the world around us, what we notice, what we reinforce, who we engage in conversation, what we value, what we choose to act on, how we decide, and so forth. Through research with my colleagues at the Richard Ivey School of Business, we have identified a number of core character dimensions or virtues that business and government leaders agreed are critical to leadership including but not limited to accountability, courage, integrity, collaboration, drive, temperance, humility, and humanity.
Any of these virtues becomes a vice if demonstrated in excess or deficiency. For example, without courage leaders will not stand up to poor decisions made by others and will lack the perseverance and tenacity required to work through difficult issues. They will also back down in the face of adversity and choose the easy route. Courage in excess is recklessness. Too much humility may lead followers to question the leader's toughness, resulting in a lack of confidence. But without it, leaders make ill-advised decisions and are unable to learn from mistakes. Without temperance leaders take uncalculated risks, rush to judgment, fail to gather relevant facts, have no sense of proportion, and make frequent and damaging changes or even reverse important decisions. Their credibility suffers. Too much temperance leads to analysis paralysis and lack of bold decision making. And without accountability leaders don't commit to, or own, the decisions they make, and cannot get others to do so. They blame others for poor outcomes and in doing so create a culture of fear and disengagement. People stop caring, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Good leaders do not wait to act when the situation demands it - they do not let the moment pass to provide leadership. They move beyond heartfelt speeches and intentions. They show courage in tacking the challenges. For example, they engage with constituents, allies and opponents. They are determined, tenacious, and resilient. They take accountability and are transparent in their thinking and decision making even when such approaches are not always rewarded in society. They demonstrate clear thinking and take initiative. They are passionate about the cause and never lose sight of the end result they have formulated. Good leaders also balance aggression and patience. They set challenging or aggressive objectives but demonstrate patience since it often takes considerable time and effort to realize the objectives.
We want our leaders to lead. Leadership is more than simply having the word CEO, captain, principal, chief, president and so forth beside your name. Leadership comes with a set of responsibilities and expectations. Competencies count. Character matters. And commitment to the hard work of leadership is essential to success - as an individual, team, organization, and indeed nation. It is time we elevate our discussions around good leadership.