Leaders: Born or Bred
Jeanne Stuntz and Karen El-Tawil
Synergy Conference
October 1, 2014
Leadership Goes Beyond..
 Career Backgrounds: Karen and Jeanne come from
very different industries.
 Skills needed to lead an organization regardless are
universal.
 Mentoring over the years.
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Disclosure
Nothing that we are going to share with you today is new
information. We have compiled the information from many
published leadership theories and our own and other’s
personal experiences. These principles apply to each and
every leadership role you are privileged to serve in.
There is many resources available to supplement our time
today and we suggest that you seek out resources
continually to enhance your path to be an exceptional leader
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Management vs. Leadership
Management is something you do with things
 You manage a budget, your inventory, your
checkbook, your resources but you do not manage
people
Leadership is something you do with people
 You lead a team or organization, you lead others
not things
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Leadership Defined:
The art of mobilizing others
to want to
struggle for shared aspirations
-
Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner
“ The Leadership Challenge”
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Leadership Defined:
The skill of influencing people to work
enthusiastically towards goals identified
as being for the common good
A skill is simply a learned or acquired ability
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Leadership is a Responsibility
 People in your organization are entrusted to your care
 Employees spend approximately half their waking time
working and living in the environment that you create
 The employees are counting on you for financial security
 To be successful at leadership is a personal decision to
develop the skill of influencing people
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Leadership is About Influence
Leadership:
The skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically
towards goals identified as being for the common good
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How do we develop influence with people?
How do we get people to do our will?
How do we get people engaged in the vision of the enterprise?
How do we get their ideas, commitment, creativity and
excellence?
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Power vs. Authority
To understand Influence you must understand the
difference between Power and Authority
Power : The ability to force or coerce someone to do your will,
even if they would choose not to, because of your position.
Power can be bought and sold, given and taken away.
Authority : The skill of getting people to willingly do your will
because of your personal influence . Authority can not be
bought or sold, given or taken away. It is about who you are
as a person, your character and influence that you have built
with people.
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Think of someone who has authority
(not power) in your life!
Honest
Holds People Accountable
Positive
Caring
Respectful
Committed
Selfless
Trustworthy
Good listener
Good Role Model
Encouraging
Thankful
Enthusiastic
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Leaders Have Good Followers
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All leaders have followers.
Do you have followers?
Are your followers good for the organization?
Your responsibility as a leader is to interact with the
followers to ensure they’re working in the direction
of the goals of the organization.
 In any position in an organization you have both a
leader and follower role.
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Eight Lessons in Leadership
# 1 - Be a Driver Not a Passenger
The transformation from Manager to Leader
 Getting your drivers license was
a major step in your life
 But driving is a big responsibility
and it changed the way that you
travel
 You were now responsible for
others
 Your actions could impact other
lives
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# 1 - Be a Driver
 As a Leader you take on new responsibilities and lose some
freedoms as well
 It is your responsibility to fix problems. Use all resources
available.
 You cannot openly complain about the company. You will never
earn the respect of your staff.
 You cannot blame others for a problem within your group. You
must take responsibility for everything that happens.
 You lose the right to some of your time because you have to
share your time with your staff.
 You lose the right to be liked by everyone, instead you seek to
be respected by everyone.
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# 2 - What is the Main thing?
 The Main Thing is the mission of
an individual group.
 It should be as easy as 2 to 4
simple bullet points.
 Teams/employees that
underachieve often don’t know
or focus on their main thing.
 It is the leaders responsibility to
get buy in from their boss on the
groups main thing.
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# 2 – What is the Main Thing?
 How to determine “The Main Thing”
 Start with the goals of the group. If you don’t have written
goals then write some.
 Meet individually with your staff and solicit their input to what is
the main function of the group.
 Meet with your boss or superiors and get buy-in on the Main
Thing.
 Communicate the main thing with your group. Make sure that
you get total alignment .
 Use the main thing to prioritize and focus activities. Help your
staff prioritize their efforts to ensure success.
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# 2 – What is the Main Thing?
 Remember
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# 3 – Escaping from Management Land
 Management Land is the overly
political office place
 Simple things become complex
 Game playing is more important
than success
 Employees are rewarded for
telling the boss what he/she
wants to hear
 Egos are large
 Truth is hard to determine
 Problems are not dealt with
promptly
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# 3 – Escaping from Management Land
 Many good companies have leadership with the will to
succeed but that lacks modesty. This creates a culture
where:
 Employees tend to feed the ego of the leader.
 Employees do not feel part of the success or appreciated
 The company breeds a culture of individualism
 To escape from Management Land:
 Strive to be a servant leader by focusing on the task and not self
 Always be honest with your team – even when it is hard
 Stay in close touch with your people to ensure you are getting
clear and honest input.
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# 3 – Escaping from Management Land
Managing For Performance
 Consider a team composed of:
 Super Stars – knowledge, desire and experience
 Middle stars – adequate knowledge and reliable or previous
superstars who lost their motivation
 Falling stars - doing as little as they can get away with
 ASK YOURSELF
 What is the minimum acceptable level of performance and Is
falling star behavior acceptable to you?
 Are you rewarding falling stars by giving them less work and
letting them stay onboard?
 Falling Stars breed Falling Stars!!!
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# 4 – Do the Right Thing
 Suppose your superstar violates the
company code of conduct and no one
knows but you. What do you do?
 If you terminate the superstar the
performance level will drop. Don’t we
want to raise the performance level?
A Leader must focus on raising the performance level for
long-term sustainable success
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# 4 – Do the Right Thing
Integrity is doing the right thing even when
no one is watching - C.S. Lewis
 Doing the right thing is always right, even when it is hard
 Doing the right thing is always right, even if it causes short
term problems
 Doing the right thing is always right, even when you are the
only one that knows
This sounds easy in theory but can be very difficult in reality
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# 4 – Do the Right Thing
Having contingency plans and conducting risk analysis before
you get into trouble will help you stay on course
 It is healthy to ask “what if?” or “what could go wrong?”
 Contingency plans help you do the right thing when faced
with a challenging situation
 Develop the plan before you get into crisis
Everything counts when it comes to Leadership
You need to guard your personal integrity as if it is your most
valuable leadership possession.
“To know what is right and not to do it is the
worst cowardice” - Confucius
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# 4 – Do the Right Thing
Accountability
 If you as a leader have made a mistake then you must
recognize it and apologize for it
 Holding staff accountable for behaviors or actions is difficult
and must be handled properly
 Holding yourself and team accountable for their behavior,
actions, and performance is critical to create a culture of
leadership
“It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the
consequences of one's acts.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
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# 4 – Do the Right Thing
Holding Each Other Accountable
 Each individual must be responsible to act in line with the
company code of conduct or value statement
 Each employee should have clear and written goals of
performance
 Addressing accountability issues with staff should always be
done promptly, privately and in a positive manner
 If accountability issues persist then a written plan for
improvement should be use and clear definitions of the
potential consequences
 Regular follow-up is imperative to correct the behavior
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# 5 – Hiring the Right People
Getting the Right People on the Bus!
 The right people are your most
important asset
 Finding employees and putting them in
the right roles is the most important job
of a leader
 Work diligently to get the right people
on the Bus and the wrong people off the
bus.
 If you hire tough then managing gets
easier and if you hire easy then
managing gets tougher.
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# 5 – Hiring the Right People
What can we do to hire the right people?
 When you know in your heart that you need to make a
people change on your team – act promptly
 Be rigorous not ruthless in the selection process
 Never lower your standards just to fill a position quickly, you
may pay dearly for that later
 Be prepared for the interview
 Use your time to evaluate character (work ethic, ego,
energy) and intellect.
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# 5 – Hiring the Right People
The interview process
 Don’t get hung up on looking for people with the exact
experience the job requires
 Look for people who can step up to the opportunity and
grow. They will be a more satisfied employee
The “right person” usually has more to do with the character
traits and intellect that previous experience
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# 6 – Do Less or Work Faster
Time management
 Leaders can feel that their time is not
their own
 This can be a huge source of stress
 A leader must be able to set their own
agenda and take control of their time
 Working harder can sometimes help but
working smarter always helps
 The trick is to look for small increments
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# 6 – Do Less or Work Faster
Do Less
 Think about lesson # 2 What is the main thing?
 Have the discipline to say NO when it is not part of your main
thing
Work Faster
 Prioritizing and organizing :
 Use the 80/20 rule to focus your team.
 Have a daily plan and prioritize what you want to accomplish
 Question the value in department reports and only produce
what has value
 Control the e-mail vacuum
 Batch like activities
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# 6 – Do Less or Work Faster
Work Faster
Limiting interruptions:
 Create strategies to mitigate interruptions
 Stand during the interruption instead of sitting
 Schedule one on one sessions with team members that
habitually interrupt
 If there is something that needs quick attention get all the right
people involved at the beginning
 Communicate your time plan with others especially when there
are critical tasks pending
 Ask your staff what you do that wastes their time
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# 6 – Do Less or Work Faster
Work Faster
Managing meetings effectively:
 Meetings should be productive and short with a specified
time period
 Beware of perpetual meetings
 Prioritize the agenda and cover the most important items
first
 Ensure appropriate attendees
 Do not stop and re-cap to bring the late attendees up to date
 Summarize action items and the responsible parties that arise
from the meeting at the end and identify
 Schedule a follow-up meeting before adjourning.
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# 7 – Motivation
Filling Buckets
Imagine that each employee carries a
bucket that holds their motivation
 We want all buckets full
 But some buckets leak and need to be
refilled
 Each employee also has a dipper and can
empty their own and others buckets
 Dippers = cynicism, negativity, stress,
confusion, complaining, doubt and fear
As a Leader you are the chief bucket filler
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# 7 – Motivation
The best way to fill buckets is with excellent communication
 Communicate the team score card
 Provide feedback – sincere, specific, and timely
 Provide recognition
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Tailor recognition to the individual
Involve them in making major decisions
Take time to know them personally beyond the task at hand
Demonstrate compassion when they go the extra mile.
Provide hand written thank you notes
Assign top performers to mentor junior people on the team
Make one on one time available to spend w/every person on the
team
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# 7 – Motivation
Bucket filling is contagious. The more you fill the more you
will find that your own bucket is full.
 Create a culture of bucket filling – routine ways to celebrate
 Ensure that there is a balance between fun and intense effort
 Allow yourself to be apart of the fun as well as the effort
 Support and celebrate individuals
 Provide opportunity for employees to connect with each
other – fill each other’s buckets
 Company events
 Newsletter acknowledging departments or individual success
 Team lunches
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# 8 – Be the Servant
 A leader removes the barriers so
that their team can serve the
customer or others.
 A leader must respect and honor
those that do the “doing”
 A leader must provide the
avenue for the team to meet the
vision
 A leader must SERVE the team
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# 8 – Be the Servant
A Servant Leader
 Believes that everyone has a deep human need to contribute
to a personally meaningful enterprise
 Listens, hears, provides feedback and takes action
 Is a life long learner – learning from everyone and everything
in their life
 Is committed to the growth of others
 Views leadership as being a host and not a hero I they share
the difficulty as well as the success.
 Is aware – general awareness and especially self awareness
 Builds community
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Leaders…Born or Bred?
 There’s a difference between management and leadership.
 There’s a difference between Power and Authority
 Leadership defined: The art of mobilizing others to want to
struggle toward shared aspirations.
 Leaders exist in all parts of the organization. Leaders have
good followers.
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Leaders…Born or Bred?
 Eight lessons:
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Be a Driver
What’s the Main thing?
Escaping Management land
Do the Right thing
Get the right people on the bus
Do less or work faster
Filling Buckets
Be the SERVANT
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Leaders…Born or Bred?
 Born: Existing from the time of someone’s birth.
Natural or instinctive.
 Bred: To develop by training or education
kareneltawil@gmail.com
jstuntz@columbus.rr.com
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Resources
“Good to Great” by Jim Collins
“Built to Last” by Jim Collins
“Leadership” by Brian Tracy
“The Servant” by James C. Hunter
“Five Levels of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell
“The Right to Lead” by John C. Maxwell
“How Full is your Bucket?” by Tom Rath, Donald O. Clifton
“Jesus, CEO” by Laurie Beth Jones
“Servant Leadership” by Robert K. Greenleaf
“The Servant Leader” by Kenneth H. Blanchard, Phil Hodges, J. Countryman
“Accountability: Becoming People of Integrity” by Wayne Schmidt,
Yvonne Prowant
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Resources
“The Servant Leader” by James Autry
“The Leadership Challenge” by James Kouses and Barry Posner
“Principle-Centered Leadership” by Stephen Covey
“Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey
“The Transparent Leader” by Herb Baum
“First Things First” by Stephen Covey
“Built to Last?” by James Collins
“Encouraging the Heart” by James Kouses and Barry Posner
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