systematicHR

Prior Posts:
Leadership Intro
Leadership Part 1 – Art Weinbach

In the Part 2 interview, We’ll look at Wharton’s interview with Marcus Buckingham.

According to Buckingham, the best managers share one talent — the ability to find, and then capitalize upon, their employees’ unique traits. “The guiding principle is, ‘How can I take this person’s talent and turn it into performance?’ That’s the only way success is possible.” … The good manager knows that not all employees work the same way. They know if they are to achieve success, they must put their employees in a position where they will be able to use their strengths. “Great managers know they don’t have 10 salespeople working for them. They know they have 10 individuals working for them …. A great manager is brilliant at spotting the unique differences that separate each person and then capitalizing on them.”

“I do think there is a rather keen and distinct difference between managing and leading,” Buckingham said. The chief responsibility of a leader, for example, “is to rally people for a better future. If you are a leader, you better be unflinchingly, unfailingly optimistic. No matter how bleak his or her mood, nothing can undermine a leader’s belief that things can get better, and must get better. I believe you either bring this to the table or you don’t.”

“If you are going to lead, you better have a deep-seated belief that you should be at the helm, dragging everyone into that better future,” he said. “Virtually nothing about a leader is humble. I’m not saying they are arrogant, but their claims are big.” Buckingham said successful leaders must find a “universal truth” to rally their followers. These universal truths stem from the basic human needs, fears and desires that unite all people, across all cultures. They also happen to be great tools for leadership. ((“Good Managers Focus on Employees’ Strengths, Not Weaknesses” Knowledge@Wharton. Retrieved from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu on January 27, 2006.))

I really love how Buckingham emphasizes leading individuals. This really goes back to one of my earlier statements about talent when I stated that we need to remember our talent is a collection of individuals. Each one of them is different and have different strengths. Not only do you need to understand how to use each one differently, but you need to understand how you can cause people to grow in different areas to expand their futures. Part of leadership is the ability to lead your people not only to a destination of work completion, but also a destination of personal growth. As a leader, is your interest in your people a vested intrest in their growth, or in the growth of your business/project?