More than Meets the Eye

Every once in awhile, I read an article that seems incomplete, such as this article on 5 Leadership Fads to Ignore, by Steve Toback. Overall, I can wholeheartedly agree with many of the author’s observations. However, Toback missed a critical teaching moment IMHO. 

The problem I see with the “leadership fads” named in the piece is the focus on the results. Toback says you cannot just copy and paste Steve Jobs’ management/leadership style; emotional intelligence is hard to measure objectively.

To me, everything the author outlined as wrong with the fads are the results of those fads. He hints to having to understand the practices that generated the results, but gave few, if any, practices gleamed from those results. His answer is “Be yourself. Create your own culture. Lead.” Then again, it’s not easy distilling the processes needed to be successful into a nice short concise phrase – like Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.

Trying to understand the conditions, elements, underlying practices that generate specific results and improved performance is benchmarking. It’s knowing the current state and having a plan to move to the desired state.  

To improve our performance, focus on those practices we’ve identified that helped others to do what we would like to accomplish. What were the conditions surrounding their success? Can we replicate those conditions if they’re missing?

Steve Jobs was an amazing communicator. While we will never be like or anything close to Steve Jobs, we can work to improve our communication skills.

Soft skills, rather than emotional intelligence, can be measured. Companies are already working to do just that in their performance reviews. You can measure leadership, communication, courage, trust, teamwork, relationship creation, etc. and each forms part of emotional intelligence.

He’s right about employee engagement. Here’s a five-step process to use.

Find your vision and understand who you are. Understand your strengths and your weaknesses. It’s about finding yourself, so you can be yourself!

And folks, what has worked in the past still works today. Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich” and Thomas Troward’s “The Creative Process in the Individual” are writings that still have applicability in today’s world.

As the New Year approaches, start thinking about you plan for next year. For example, are you ready to benchmark? What are your New Year’s Resolutions on leadership and beyond fads?

 

Image: Quiet on the set! by Theiggsta via Flickr CC