Leadership: In My Own Words

With all of the scholarship on leadership, what could I add to the conversation? I have my ideas. And if we reflect on the decline of our industry, an honest in-the-mirror assessment of bank leadership merits discussion.

In 2004 I wrote an article for a banking industry association entitled Lead Like Lincoln. The article identified three traits that were critical to Lincoln's success: Vision, Communication, and Commitment. Ten years later, I stand by those traits.

At this stage of the post, I could cite studies, books, and management luminaries on what makes great leaders. Instead, I will give you my slightly varnished view, straight from the gut. Slightly varnished because I grew up in Scranton, where directness has greater value than tact. Not always an admirable trait for a consultant, or a leader.

A great leader has a vision for the future. This is particularly important and challenging in rapidly changing industries like technology and media. It was not particularly important in slow moving industries like banking. 

But that has changed. The greatest banking leaders can see their bank several years into the future, and organize resources around making that vision a reality.

A great leader is humble. As with any general statement on leadership traits, there are exceptions. Say what you will about Steve Jobs. Humble he was not. But hard charging, egotistical leaders can only move an organization so far, and to a certain size, before the ego starts to become a liability. Recall that Jobs got fired from the company he founded. Not an easy task to accomplish. 

The humble leader, on the other hand, takes counsel from his/her people and understands that no human being is all knowing, or even close to it. A great leader does not judge his/her importance by an org chart or the size of paycheck, but by the happiness of their people (sum total of all of their people, not just keeping an individual happy) and the purpose of their work. 

A great leader does not fear failure. Failure is the lesson plan for success. Avoid failure, and the leader understands that their company is destined for the ash heap of irrelevance. In banking, failure is clearly a dirty word when relating to the overall bank. But the most innovative and sustainable business models in our industry are moving farther away from business as usual into less tried and true paths. If there was ever a need for great leaders in banking, now is the time.

A great leader has great followers. When the Navy trained me on leadership, an early lesson was that before becoming a great leader, a sailor must be a great follower. So before assuming leadership, a future leader supports their current leader, working with purpose for the betterment of the company, with no interest in highlighting shortcomings of their leader or those around them in order to move them up the organizational ladder.

Surrounding yourself with great followers implies hiring those that can step into your shoes, or that have such potential and you are dedicated to ensuring their development. Great followers are smart, motivated, humble, forward looking, and care about their colleagues and the company. 

Great followers give the leader informed information and opinions, and if the leader, after careful reflection, decides to go against the follower's recommendation, the great follower charges forward lock-step with the leader.

Poor leaders don't want great followers for fear that they can easily slip into the leader's shoes. Great leaders cheer their followers and prepare them to slip into the leader's shoes.

Great leaders are committed. If a vision is worth pursuing, should it be abandoned when obstacles rear their inevitable head? Weak leaders cut their losses. Great leaders forge forward.

Great leaders are likable. By this I don't mean liked by everyone at all times. They can make the difficult decisions, counsel employees, and be firm when necessary. But if a leader must motivate employees to challenge their boundaries and create great companies, employees must believe in the man or woman. 

Can a person with wavering honor or integrity, or is generally a jerk get the entire company to move as one in a direction that has great risk yet may lead to great reward for a sustainable period of time? 

I think not. 

What are your thoughts on leadership in financial services?

~ Jeff

Lead Like Lincoln

Historically low interest rates and the recent poor economy highlighted the importance of leadership in community banking. History has provided us great leaders to emulate and Abraham Lincoln is perhaps without equal. In my opinion, he demonstrated three critical qualities of leadership.

Vision - Burt Nanus in his book Visionary Leadership contends that vision is inherently idealistic and represents a "mental model of a future state of the... organization." George H.W. Bush brought attention to this key leadership quality when he declared he lacked "the vision thing."

Lincoln was a great visionary. What made his vision great was its singular simplicity; preservation of the Union. Consider this statement from 1862: "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it-- if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it-- and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."

Communication - A vision is only introspection without the ability to communicate it and rally stakeholders behind it. But helping others understand the vision is not enough. The purpose of communication is to motivate others to act.

Lincoln was not sowed from the cloth of privilege. He was a simple man that was able to connect with most Americans using simple anecdotes. Presidential historian David Abshire commented: "This genius of Lincoln's words and ideas -- derived from the Bible, Shakespeare, Bums, and Bunyon -- lent an historic quality to his rhetoric and persona."

Why was Lincoln such a great communicator? His messages were simple and easy to understand. How many speeches, presentations, meetings and sermons have we endured that we have little or no recollection of? The reason is simple; the message wasn't simple.

You may remember Edward Everett, a great orator of the 19th century. Chances are you don't. At the consecration of the most storied battlefield in our nation's history, Everett delivered a long-forgotten two-hour oration. After him, Lincoln approached the podium and delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Commitment - Having vision and effectively communicating it does nothing in itself. Commitment is the doing. Many leadership experts contend that people follow committed leaders, not a vision. Divorce vision and commitment, and all that you have is an idea... an idea with no disciples.

To preserve the Union, Lincoln shelved the Constitution when the nation that held it as law was in jeopardy. Said in one of Lincoln's memorable anecdotes, "By general law, life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb." Putting aside the Constitution to use any indispensable means to preserve the Union demonstrated Lincoln's commitment to his vision.

As time passed and Lincoln's commitment was clear, tenacity and courage infected every level within the Union ranks. At the outset of the war, military commanders were not clear about Lincoln's commitment to preserve the Union. General McClellan exemplified this confusion by not pursuing Lee's army after initial successes in Virginia.

Near the end of the war, Lincoln's commitment was clear as General Sherman was burning Atlanta. Followers witnessing Lincoln's degree of commitment put forth the great effort necessary to achieve success, although the risk of failure was great. Why take the risk? Because a great leader will not yield, will not relent, and will not quit.

Abraham Lincoln was by no means a perfect leader and it was not his flawless leadership that categorizes him as one of history's greatest leaders in times of crisis. Rather, it was how he adapted to the crisis situation by first formulating his vision, then articulating it, and lastly standing by it at all cost. Indeed, for all these reasons, Lincoln was one of history's greatest leaders.

~ Jeff

Note: This has been reprinted from the February 2004 Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers newsletter.