A Personal Inventory
In 2002, Jossey Bass published a book by James Kouzes and Barry Posner called The Leadership Challenge. Building upon the Hersey-Blanchard model and other transformational leadership models, they went to the heart of what skills are required by the leader to stimulate such a transformation. In Module Four, you will learn the abilities to influence followers and bring them to accept the leader’s vision as their own.
Modeling the Way
Remember, the best leaders are examples of what they want their followers to be. George Washington rode into battle with his troops. You cannot lead from the rear, and sending your followers out to take the heat and face the challenges while you remain in an ivory tower will eliminate any possibility of respect.
In Module Five, you will learn a leader is in the lead, right upfront, ready to take the heat if something goes wrong. If something goes wrong, a true leader never blames his followers even if they failed. A true leader takes the blame and then addresses how to correct the problems that arose.
Inspiring a Shared Vision
In Module Six, you will learn the key to true leadership is to inspire a shared vision among your followers. Before you can convey a vision, however, you have to develop it. You must be clear in your vision, live it before others can see it, and model it from your behavior.
Challenging the Process
Far too often, we cling to what is familiar, even if what we cling to is known to be inadequate. The law of inertia governs most large groups: if it takes effort to change something, nothing will change. In Module Seven, you will learn to search out opportunities to change, grow, innovate, and improve.
However, there is no reward without risk, so you must be willing to experiment, take risks, and learn from any mistakes. Ask questions, even if you fear the answers. Start with the question, “Why?” Why are things the way they are? Why do we do things the way we do?
Enabling Others to Act
As mentioned before, you cannot do your followers’ work for them. Besides, if you do their work, why are they getting paid? You have your work to do. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership model’s ultimate goal is to develop your followers to the point where you can delegate tasks without a lot of oversight.
In Module Eight, you will learn to be a true leader, you must enable others to act responsibly and not encourage bad worker habits by compensating for them or overlooking them. Simultaneously, you cannot criticize a follower for trying hard but making an honest mistake.
The goal of a leader is to empower others to work.
To the extent you can do this is the extent you will be successful.
Encouraging the Heart
Employees, workers, and followers are not robots. Human beings have intellect and emotions. Failing to deal with them on those levels will ultimately backfire. You cannot program loyalty.
In Module Nine, you will learn if your followers share the work make certain they share in the rewards. If you are going to get a bonus for a successful task, share at least a portion of it with your followers. More than one employee has felt betrayed by leadership when the boss gets a big bonus, and those who do all the work get nothing. You should at least throw them a party, provide a free lunch, or give everyone a pair of movie tickets or a lottery ticket, but do something to show they did not work hard, only to see you take all the credit.
Basic Influencing Skills
In Module Ten, you will learn the best leaders can influence others to do something and think it was all their idea. Do not worry about taking credit for every good thing that happens on your watch. As the leader, you get credit whenever your followers succeed because you created the environment that allowed their success,
Setting Goals
In Module Eleven, you will learn without a goal, your chances of successfully coaching your employee to better performance are low. Defining specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-driven goals will plot a marker on the horizon that acts as your beacon. Without it, you are navigating blindly, causing frustration for both you and your employee because you never seem to make any improvement. It becomes a constant cycle of failing to meet the goal and talking to your employee about it.
Sales and Operations Planning
In Module Twelve, you will learn about sales and operations planning (S&OP). Your company’s mission statement is management’s vision for what the company needs to accomplish. The S&OP is management’s guidance on how to accomplish the mission. In other words, the mission statement tells you what to do, and the S&OP tells you how to do it.
The Master Schedule
In Module Thirteen, you will learn about the master schedule. The master schedule is the tool used to guide production in a make-to-stock environment. It also plays a supporting role in a make-to-order environment.