Becoming a leader

The following is an excerpt of the introduction to Tony Griffiths' new book on leadership, Leadership by Valuing. This should be just enough to whet your appetites.

About the author

Tony Griffiths is an international management consultant, trainer and coach, with more than 30 years, experience. His clients include some of the foremost organisations in the world, including US. Fortune 100 companies, large US governmental organisations, top European companies and many organisations in the Caribbean.

The philosophy

We live in a world of relationships. The value that we are able to give to those relationships will, in large measure, determine the quality of those relationships and the outcomes that we derive from them. What we value will, reciprocally, tend to deliver value in return.

If you value customers, customers will deliver value to you, in buying your products and services and recommending others to do the same. If you value your associates, they will in turn reciprocate by delivering value as they work with you to achieve mutual objectives. If you value yourself, the energy, confidence and commitment which you generate, will inspire others to follow you. If you value the organisation, you will create the wherewithal for the organisation to return value to customers, associates, the community and shareholders. If you value the communities in which you operate, you will enable people in those communities to become empowered, thus releasing the value they can give to the world we all share. If you value your shareholders, your shareholders will continue to have confidence in your business, enabling you to raise money for capital projects at cheaper rates, thus increasing the value returned from capital projects and enabling you to return greater shareholder value.

The model

The Leadership by Valuing model considers how well you, as a leader, deliver value in six key areas, namely:

Valuing self

Valuing others

Valuing the organisation

Valuing customers

Valuing the community

Valuing shareholders

While the main backdrop for this book is the corporation, much of what is discussed can be applied to other organisations and groups-families, churches, community groups and government organisations. In addition, while the main focus in the book is on the relationship between you and those who report directly to you, it is important to note that leading can also be: upwards, with the person to whom you report; across, with a peer; and diagonal with people with whom you have no direct working relationship.

Case studies and examples are presented throughout the book to provide concrete illustrations of the concepts and behaviours that are discussed.

Organisational culture change

Leadership does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs within the context of an organisational culture that both defines leadership and is defined by it.

The customer-focused, high-performance, team organisation, where information is shared readily and fully with others, where employees feel a sense of ownership and commitment, and where there are high-levels of buy-in to decisions made, cannot coexist with a high command and control approach to leadership.

Similarly, leadership approaches which seek to build consensus and demonstrate concern for people and people development are hardly likely to be found in a hard-nosed, purely task-focused, power-based, hierarchical organisation.

Notwithstanding differences in organisational culture, all organisations exist to provide value to customers, shareholders, employees and the communities they serve. Some may challenge this point of view as naïve, since they assert that corporations exist to provide profit in order to create shareholder value. Cynics might even challenge this viewpoint as not reflecting reality, citing numerous instances in the recent past of corporate managers, who were also shareholders, designing schemes, not for the benefit of all shareholders but for themselves alone. The question is, are such corporate behaviours sustainable in the medium to long term? Are such individual behaviours sustainable in the medium to long term? The answer to these questions is, I believe, a resounding "No!"

However you slice it, it is clear that 'getting' (self interest) without reciprocal 'giving' (demonstrating interest in others) cannot be self-sustaining, creating as it does a negative balance on the part of those whose interests are not served. Slavery, for example, I believe was not sustainable, for the same reason. It created resistance, disaffection, anger, rebellion and other forces, including negative moral judgements that sowed the seeds for its demise, as did apartheid. So too, corporations, like Enron, that are solely focused on enriching the few, are unlikely to succeed in the medium to long term. For whether it is the legal framework, market forces, the press, civil society, political forces or natural forces, corporate excesses, the extension of pure self-interest, like the excesses of governments or individuals, will eventually, I believe, be brought to book.

It is the unthinking corporation that does not recognise the mutuality of its own self-interest with that of its key constituents-customers, shareholders, employees and community.

This book will provide you with the behavioural benchmarks to enable you to build a high-performance organisation. I wish you success on your journey to become an excellent leader. Happy reading!

Contact Tony Griffiths at: tg@leadership-jm.com