People Skills

By Michael H. Shenkman

Shenkman: Guest writer holds a mirror up to business

Executive Excellence Publishing Name: Michael H. Shenkman Title: President Company: Strategic Development Group, Keystone International Inc.

I know of no sure way to distinguish potential leaders from good managers, but I do know this: the manager’s skill set originates in the mind—in developing an expertise in a subject area. A leader’s skills, however, are not based on acquiring expertise or training to perform actions. Instead, leaders orient their attention inward, pay attention to certain aspects of their personalities, and then skillfully use them to influence and inspire others.

• Ed ran his company’s IT rescue squad. If anyone had trouble with his or her computer, Ed made sure someone promptly resolved the problem. His team loved him—he seemed to know everything, and he made sure they had the equipment they needed. When the company’s CIO left, the CEO gave Ed the job. But Ed bombed. Department heads found him evasive when they wanted to discuss their future IT needs; he could not conceptualize company wide options; he delegated tasks to subordinates who weren’t sure what to do. Everyone liked Ed, but felt he couldn’t lead. What did the CEO get wrong?

• Ellen was a marketing manager. She irritated her boss, Jackson, the Marketing VP. She always had great ideas that, in his opinion, the company wasn’t ready for. In her presentations, she would refer to personal experiences, which he found irrelevant. But her people were devoted to her and produced fine programs for customers, while her vendors produced great materials to promote them. And the CEO noticed. The first CEO mistook Ed’s good nature, impressive technical knowledge, and attention to detail for leadership ability. Ed lacked insight into other departments’ needs and could not give his people a sense of the big picture. He had been a good manager, but was not a leader. The second CEO correctly recognized Ellen’s leadership ability. She inspired people to do their best and had a feel for how the company could affect the lives of its customers better—resulting in higher sales and profitability. She was both a good manager and a good leader.

Four Skills of Character

The leader has four character skills:

1. Drive. Drive includes both the boundless energy that leaders offer and the way that energy comes across. Is the leader steady and calm, or jumpy and excitable? People experience a leader’s personality traits as drive because the leader uses them to affect others’ behavior—to get them to calm down, or to get them off the dime. The leader’s energy “drives” others. A leader’s drive is spurred when addressing the unknown and unresolved.

2. Self-awareness. Self-awareness—the stories about life-shaping experiences—underpins the empathy that the leader offers as she inspires others to move into new territory. Because Ellen understood how she had met various challenges in her life, she could help others see how even the most difficult challenges could be achieved. We have all been moved when someone we respect tells us a personal story about coming to a fork in the road and then
describes how and why she came to the decision she did. These stories lessen the leader’s need for control. Ellen’s boss, Jackson, didn’t get the message, but her team did.

3. People skills. By “people skills,” we don’t mean the ability to be gregarious and back-slapping. We mean the ability to empathize, to welcome others’ company, to communicate, and then making everyone involved know why they and their efforts are important.

4. Practical insight. Practical insight often becomes a full-blown vision. The leader sees beyond what process improvements can be made to what could be done that would change everything for the benefit of others. Also, leaders love the unknown and actually seek situations in which outcomes are not predictable.
This is not a choice managers typically make. Ed could not envision what you might need to do one year or five years down the road. Practical insight refers to the leader’s propensity to generate new solutions. Ellen was always bursting with ideas—and her ideas were often proved to be right. A leader needs all four skills of character. Ed was helpful, but he did not have the right people skills. His skills only extended as far as sharing his technical skills with a smile. He could provide his people with useful tools, but not with career paths. A great manager does not become a good leader simply by being promoted.

Often superb team leaders, like Ed, are put in a leadership role where they fail. In choosing leaders, don’t look at their proficiency at executing a skill. There are very good people out there who can sell, manage, analyze, and execute, but are not cut out for leading. How do we develop leaders once we recognize them? There are many ways. Ellen had a mentor, the CEO, who put her in the spotlight to either sink or swim. Some leaders study the lives of great leaders, emulate a great leader they work with, or take advice from trusted advisors. Others use athletic competition, musical instruments, yoga, meditation, sailing, or mountain climbing to strengthen their skills of character. The key is noticing when the essential skills of character are present, and then using some or all of these tools to help people grow. Ellen decided to develop herself as a leader and now runs her own firm. Ed decided not to lead. He went back into in-house support where he remains popular, and happy with his work.

Michael Shenkman, Ph.D., is founder and president of the Arch of Leadership (www.archofleadership.com), a leader mentoring company. This article was adapted from his new book, The Arch and The Path, the Life of Leading Greatly (Sandia Heights Media, 2005).