Critical Components of Leadership

Over the past few months, we have explored how culture and strategy interact to impact organizational performance and its inherent ability to achieve stated objectives.  Our desire at MRA is to help strategic leaders make better decisions on the problems that ‘keep them up at night’.  This support is primarily accomplished through the development of an organizational (or individual) specific Decision Strategy.  A strategy that elicits clarity, insight, and understanding around the very problem keeping you up at night.  However, that strategy must necessarily empower the leader to lead!  Lead in a manner that the entire organization is positioned for decisive action at every level.

The Two Critical Components of Leadership

As such, we often have powerful discussions with those we serve on the topic of leadership.  At MRA, we believe that every tenet that you may hear, read, or find with respect to leadership principles can be ‘hung’ on two hooks.  These ‘hooks’ are the two critical components of leadership: (1) The job is getting done and (2) The team (organization) is coming together.

Any sacrifice of one or the other results in a dereliction of leadership and, in our opinion, an abdication of the very responsibility the role requires.  The ‘job getting done’ at the expense of the ‘team coming together’ typically results in members of the team being ‘wrung dry’ with respect to their commitment, sense of purpose, and shared responsibility to the point that members are either ‘there, but not there’ (saying ‘not my job!’), actively looking to move on, or become an active agent inside the organization to get the leadership to move on!

In contrast, the team coming together at the expense of the job getting done typifies an environment where members love coming to work and being around each other.  However, the coming together results in no meaningful progress towards the mission.  This is otherwise known as a party!

As leaders we can address both ‘hooks’ through Mission and Strategy (evaluates whether the ‘job is getting done’) in addition to Values and Vision (provides connection points for the team to come together). 

The mission outlines ‘why’ the organization exists and the difference the organization will make, providing tangible means to determine if the job is getting done.  The Decision Strategy provides ways to achieve desired ends through the allocation of organization specific resources (means).  Evaluating whether the organization is on glidepath to achieve the desired ends aid leaders in quantifiable measurement of the ‘job getting done’.

As discussed over the last three blogs, Values are a foundational component of establishing an organization’s culture and lead to consonant (not dissonant!) practices that increase trust.  Trust not only between members, but also between members and leaders where all are in alignment with where they want to go (Vision) together.

Unifying the Organization and Achieving Results

When both critical components of leadership are addressed, the ‘problems that keep us up at night’ can then be viewed as opportunities for the organization to overcome challenges in a manner that unifies AND gets us to where we want to go.  The job is getting done and the team is coming together!  Which in turn, will allow the organization to sleep at night in the midst of even the most complex of problems.