“We have a wrong-headed notion of what constitutes a leader, driven by an obsession with leaders at the top.” –Bill George, Harvard professor, former CEO, Medtronic
We have a crisis in leadership today with seemingly continuous scandals rocking business, government, religious organizations, non-profits, sports, and more.
The latest results from the much respected Edelman Trust Barometer show only 18% of the knowledgeable people surveyed believe business leaders, and only 13% of government leaders, will tell you the truth. Shocking.
We can blame the crisis on human nature, greed, the lust for power, ego, or the phases of the moon. All have some skin in the game (except perhaps the phases of the moon). But there’s another driving factor as well: a flawed leadership model.
Great Leadership Is a Group Performance
Most people think about leadership from the top down, conflating leadership with authority. The quest for a heroic leader to save our organizations is a false search destined to disappoint. Yet, we continue to await such saviors. We focus too much on the skills of the people at the top and their leadership style, whether it be directive, empowering, authentic, transformational, or whatever.
Great leadership, triple crown leadership, works up, down, and sideways. It is a group performance, enlisting anyone and everyone to lead at certain times, regardless of the organizational hierarchy. Sometimes the CEO leads; sometimes the CEO bites his or her tongue to let others lead, letting them gain invaluable leadership experience.
We heard this concept of “leadership as a group performance” over and over again in our research:
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Why Is Great Leadership a Group Performance?
But why is great leadership a group performance? We can think of ten reasons (hopefully, you can add more). Great leadership is a group performance because it:
- Retains good people because they are engaged and challenged.
- Encourages out-of-the-box solutions to emerge.
- Reveals new ways to implement solutions.
- Keeps the leader’s ego in check.
- Develops successors.
- Allows you time to think more strategically.
- Allows you time for sanctuary.
- Allows you to work fewer hours.
- Allows you to get more brainpower on the problems.
- Allows you have more balance in your life.
Great leadership is a group performance.
Practical Applications
A Short Quiz:
- Are you “doing it all” with all the challenges on your desk?
- Are your people waiting for you to give them direction?
- Do you lack a good successor?
- Do you lack innovation to help solve your problems?
- Do you think of yourself as absolutely indispensable?
Quiz Answers:
If you answered “yes” to two or more of the above, revise your view to see leadership as a group performance.
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Bob Vanourek and Gregg Vanourek are leadership practitioners, teachers, trainers, and award-winning authors. They are co-authors of Triple Crown Leadership: Building Excellent, Ethical, and Enduring Organizations, a winner of the International Book Awards, and called “the best book on leadership since Good to Great.” Take their Leadership Derailers Assessment or sign up for their newsletter. If you found value in this, please forward it to a friend. Every little bit helps!
