Risk & Business Magazine Atlas Insurance Risk & Business Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 12

LEADERSHIP
Leadership
E
verything in business begins
and ends with leadership. And
because it’s a complex topic,
no one expert has a complete
formula for what makes a better
leader.
Therefore, here are five important bodies
of knowledge for those who are trying to
sharpen their leadership skills. All have
been developed by true students and
teachers of leadership. Master these lessons
and you’ll be far more effective.
In a future column I’ll look at a similar
set of skills and attributes of effective
management. Though leadership and
management are related, they are different
sides of the same coin – and a person tends
to be stronger in one than the other
TRUST AND TEAM HEALTH
Pat Lencioni, author of the classic Five
12
Five Critical Aspects
Dysfunctions of a Team and his latest, The
Advantage, emphasizes the importance
of team health. There are plenty of smart
teams that have failed; in turn, a healthy
team free of politics and confusion will
discern the right decisions and be able to
align and execute on a common vision.
Lencioni outlines five dysfunctions that
damage team health, each impacting the
others in a cascade of challenges:
• Absence of Trust – unwilling to be
vulnerable within the group.
• Fear of Conflict – seeking harmony
over constructive and passionate
debate.
• Lack of Commitment – feigning buy-
in for group decisions, resulting in no
aligned direction.
•
Avoidance of Accountability – failing
to hold people (and each other)
accountable to a high standard of
performance.
•
Inattention to Results – more
interested in status than outcomes.
The key is identifying your primary
leadership dysfunction and focusing on
correcting it.
FIVE PRACTICES
Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, based on
research involving more than 3 million
employees and leaders, have identified five
practices that are common among effective
leaders as outlined in their bestseller The
Leadership Challenge (5th Edition out this
summer). The specific practices:
•
Model the Way: More is “caught” than
taught, so know your values and live
them through your actions.