Doug Moran on Leadership Attributes and the Kipling factor
Posted by Bernie Ritchie & Doug Moran on Oct 26, 2009

Creating a shared vision, is where real leadership is at according to co-authors and prominent academic researchers James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book The Leadership Challenge.

Their view, is that being forward-looking and "envisioning exciting possibilities" as well as "enlisting others in a shared view of the future" is the key leadership attribute. This is the attribute that most distinguishes leaders from non-leaders. As they said in an HBR Leadership ‘special' earlier this year, "as counterintuitive as it seems, the best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present".

Meanwhile, Doug Moran, author of the forthcoming book "If you will lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st Century Leaders", also has some ideas on leadership attributes. In Doug's case, he bases his leadership guidance lessons around Rudyard Kipling's famous poem "If".

Besides guest blogging for Management Sushi, Doug has also had interview articles published this month in CIO Insight and EnterpriseLeadership.org. Don't forget to check them out!

Here is what Doug has to say about leadership attributes .... and Kipling!

Great Leadership: ‘If-' Offers Guidance for Those Who Choose to Lead

We all know great leaders. Unfortunately, we also know far too many bad ones. What distinguishes the great from the rest? Great leaders understand that leadership is a vocation that requires hard work and dedication. Other than that, what does it take to become a great leader? The truth is that anyone can be a leader. In fact, everyone is a leader from time to time. The challenge is building the skills and competencies to become truly great. First, we must start to understand what those skills and attributes are.

More than 100 years ago, an English poet named Rudyard Kipling wrote a short poem that provides a list of attributes needed to become a more effective (and potentially great) leader. It exposes the complexities and challenges of leadership. Within its thirty-two lines and 288 words, Kipling packed powerful lessons.

Those lessons include the following:
• Knowing ourselves and what we believe;
• Seeing things that others can't or won't;
• Motivating others to attempt things they think are impossible;
• Dreaming big and working tirelessly to attain our dream.

The most important lesson the poem teaches is having the boldness and courage to step up and lead. The poem speaks for itself and reveals enduring wisdom.

‘IF'

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Most people don't have the time or inclination to decipher this poem to pull out its leadership lessons. The following list provides an interpretation of the attributes it contains:

• Composure - The Power to Keep Your Head
• Character - The Wisdom to Know and Trust Yourself
• Patience - The Strength to Endure
• Selflessness - The Ability to Put Your Cause and Beliefs ahead of Yourself
• Vision - The Power of Having and Sharing a Dream
• Self-Efficacy - The Confidence to Gain from Triumph and Disaster
• Integrity - The Wisdom to Know the Truth and the Strength to Defend It
• Resilience - The Ability to Bounce Back from Adversity
• Boldness - The Ability to See and Seize Opportunities
• Accountability - The Will to Take Ownership Regardless of the Outcome
• Courage - The Ability to Face the Dangers When They Become Real
• Stamina - The Will to Hold On When You Have Nothing Left
• Authenticity - The Resolve to Always Be Yourself
• Inspiration - The Ability to Connect with and Motivate Friends and Foes
• Enthusiasm - The Energy to Fill Every Minute
• Ambition - The Will to Make the World What You Want It to Be

The poem is not a checklist that will guarantee success for an aspiring leader. Rather, ‘If-' describes a path we may choose to follow to become a better leader. ‘If-' has remained a compelling leadership guide for more than 100 years. It is simply written and easy to read and understand. Most importantly, the messages are direct and powerful.

Doug Moran is the author of forthcoming book, If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st-Century Leaders, and founder of the consultancy If You Will Lead, LLC. He was previously a CIO with Capital One and served in a number of roles in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including Deputy Decretary of Health and Human Resources, COO of the Department of Social Services and Telecommunications Director.

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