!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Streamline Training & Documentation: Leadership: Four Fundamental Questions

Friday, June 16, 2006

Leadership: Four Fundamental Questions

Always on the lookout for fundamentals underlying particular concepts and processes, I couldn't help but notice an article in the July-August 2005 issue of the Harvard Business Review promising to explain how one enters "the fundamental state of leadership." It's a leaden phrase, but I was intrigued enough by the "fundamental" part to check out the summary of the article at the back of the magazine.

So, what is the "fundamental state of leadership"? According to author Robert E. Quinn, a professor at the University of Michigan business school, it's leadership in the truest sense:
... the frame of mind we tend to adopt when facing a significant challenge: a promotion opportunity, the risk of professional failure, a serious illness, a divorce, the death of a loved one, or any other major life jolt. Crisis calls, and we rise to the occasion.
Quinn argues that there's no need to wait for a dire situation to show you can rise to the occasion. On the contrary, by ensuring that you can answer the following four questions affirmatively, you can exercise exemplary leadership whenever you decide to focus your energy on doing so. The four questions are:
Am I results centered? Do I venture beyond familiar territory to pursue ambitious new outcomes, rather than staying persistently in my comfort zone?

Am I internally directed? Do I behave according to my own values, rather than avoiding conflict by letting others pressure me into doing something I don't really believe is best?

Am I other focused? Do I put the interests of the organization first, or do I play the narcissist, putting my own interests first?

Am I externally open? Do I learn from my environment and recognize when there's a need for change? Or, do I block out external stimuli in order to stay on task and avoid risk?
Quinn acknowledges that maintaining an exemplary level of leadership 24/7 is too exhausting to be realistic. Instead, he advocates consciously rising to the "fundamental state of leadership" consistently enough to continuously improve your own capabilities and to be a respected model for others. The end result is a high-performance culture — an organizational asset that is any true business leader's best accomplishment and legacy.

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