Max Landsberg is an author and business coach. Until recently he was partner at McKinsey & Company, responsible for helping consultants in the UK to develop their professional skills. He studied Physics at Cambridge, has an MBA from Stanford, and lives in London.
His books draw on twenty-five years of his counselling individuals, teams, and corporations; they have become best-sellers, available in fourteen languages.
The Tao of Coaching
Boost your effectiveness at work by inspiring and developing those around you. The classic handbook on ‘how to coach’. Includes chapters on how to: Give and receive feedback; Apply the power of questioning; Structure a coaching discussion; Create more time for yourself; and more.
The Tao of Motivation
Inspire yourself and others. A guide to simple techniques and habits, to help you: Feel and picture the success you want; Tap into your personal energies; Build your confidence, step-by-step; and more.
The Tools of Leadership
How to build Vision, Inspiration and Momentum in the team you are leading or managing. Includes chapters on: Culture and Trust ; Charisma and Power; Influence and Timing; and more.
Praise for Max Landsberg’s books
‘In sport, it’s easy to have an exciting vision. In business, that’s often more difficult, but the process for turning that goal into reality is just the same. This book shows you how to make your vision exciting and how to follow it through.’
Greg Searle – Olympic Gold Medallist and World Champion Oarsman
‘Max Landsberg successfully demystifies the murky world of motivation, and offers highly practical advice with his customary insight and humour.’
Ben Cannon – Director of Training and Development, Goldman Sachs & Co
‘Few investments are risk free. Motivation is one of them. This practical and engaging guide helps to show you the way.’
Adair Turner – former Director-General, Confederation of British Industries
‘This book is a rich and vivid mix of serious theory, witty practice and handy models. It left me full of ideas, prompted to swing into action, and of course … thoroughly motivated.’
Rita Clifton – Chief Executive, Interbrand
‘In a world of tight deadlines and heavy pressure, motivating people is more important than ever. The Tao of Motivation provides a wealth of practical tips, relevant stories and a good dose of humour.’
Carolyn Fairbairn – Director of Strategy, BBC Worldwide
‘The wise invest in motivating people. This book shows you how.’
Charles Alexander – Managing Director, Lehman Brothers
‘Interested in motivation? Then read this book – you’re worth it. Not interested in motivation? Then buy a book on preparing your CV instead.’
Patrick Dunne – Director, 3i plc
‘Successful leaders inspire ordinary people to achieve the extraordinary. This book is motivational. It will help you get the best out of your colleagues and yourself.’
Christopher Rodrigues – Group Chief Executive, Bradford and Bingley Building Society
‘The skill of motivation is neither a charisma contest, nor an impenetrable science. This book provides refreshingly practical insights, and is an engaging read.’
Roger Holmes – Chief Executive, Marks & Spencer plc
‘At the heart of leadership is the ability to motivate – whether it comes naturally or not. This book is a must-read.’
Ruth Tait – Head of PA Executive Search and Selection
‘Motivating colleagues is an essential qualification for the successful manager. Max Landsberg’s Tao of Motivation brings together all the latest thinking in a lively and entertaining form that combines a light touch with serious reasoning – a motivational read!’
Archie Norman – former Chairman of Asda Group plc
VISION, INSPIRATION AND MOMENTUM
For EKI
This paperback edition published in 2003 by
PROFILE BOOKS LTD
3A Exmouth House
Pine Street
Exmouth Market
London ECIR OJH
www.profilebooks.com
First published by HarperCollins in 2000
Copyright © Max Landsberg 2000, 2002
Cartoons © HIGGINS 2000, 2002
3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Bookmarque Ltd, Croydon, Surrey
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN-10: 1 86197 660 7
ISBN-13: 978 1 86197 660 4
People make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
Harry S. Truman
(1884–1972)
Introduction
PART 1 – GEARING UP
1 VIM: Vision, Inspiration and Momentum
2 The techniques of leadership
3 Preparing: focus, urgency and factions
4 Shaping the teams
PART 2 – THE HEART OF LEADERSHIP
Vision
5 Creating meaning
6 Seeding and testing
7 Sculpting skills
Inspiration
8 Inspiration – building trust
9 Engaging and uniting
10 Repeating and reinforcing
Momentum
11 Encouraging initiative
12 Galvanising progress
13 Clearing the way
Support for Vision, Inspiration and Momentum
14 Urging and celebrating
15 Living the values
16 Corralling attention
PART 3 – OTHER TOOLS AND SKILLS
17 Leading or managing?
18 Roles and delegation
19 Phasing and timing
20 Power and influence
21 Culture
22 The VIM of self-leadership
Epilogue
Appendices
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Summary and every-day checklist
Index
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon
People are often led to causes and often become committed to great ideas through persons who personify those ideas. They have to find the embodiment of the idea in flesh and blood to commit themselves to it.
Martin Luther King
In bite-sized chapters, this book presents techniques that will help you to lead a group, a team or an organisation. These are techniques you can actually learn and apply; I do not believe that leadership is primarily a charisma contest!
It follows the same format as my other books (on Coaching and Motivation). The format seems to work since the books have sold over a hundred thousand copies in fourteen languages. Specifically, each chapter focuses on a distinct technique for leading, describes it concisely, and illustrates how to apply it – using an episode in the dramatic life of Alex as he struggles to turn around an ailing advertising agency.
The book’s central theme, which I amplify below, is that:
Leadership = Vision × Inspiration × Momentum
Like most authors, I wrote this book because I wished someone had already written it. I had left my role as a partner at McKinsey & Company, to set up an executive coaching practice. But I was unable to find many books on leadership that I could recommend to my clients.
Half of the existing volumes, outlining the prowess of famous generals and politicians, were fascinating to read but recounted events far too removed from daily life for the parallels to be convincing or applicable as lessons (New York ex-mayor Giuliani’s Leadership is a welcome exception). Other books were typically arranged as workbooks with checklists to complete – and I assumed I was not alone in usually skipping over such exercises.
Thus I hope this book provides you with a refreshing view of the subject: focusing on leadership rather than leaders, and on the acquirable skills rather than on purely charisma or checklists.
However, I should warn you that this book does not ponder over whether leadership can be learned. I know it can be learned – in the last twenty-five years I have seen many people build the skills.
And I agree with Giuliani when he says, ‘Leadership does not just happen. It is taught, learned, developed’; and with Michael Owen on footballers, ‘I don’t know whether footballers are born or made. But I do know that the more I practise, the better I become.’
But back to the central formula:
Leadership = Vision × Inspiration × Momentum
Anyone who personally engages with his or her team to create vision, inspiration and momentum will almost certainly be regarded as a leader. I have come to believe that these are the three most important skills of the leader. While personal attributes such as charisma may help you lead, leadership is ultimately not a charisma contest. The acquirable techniques are more important. (You may of course be perceived as having greater charisma if you habitually apply these techniques effectively.)
Now most of us have a strong suit. You might be better at the intellectual-cum-artistic skill of developing a vision, or the ‘salesperson’ skill of creating face-to-face inspiration, or the ‘line manager’ skill of sustaining momentum. But the challenge of leadership is to pass some minimum threshold on all three of these dimensions. That’s why the terms are multiplied together – not merely added!
Part 1 of this book explains this central formula in more detail, and suggests ways for preparing to lead – e.g., if you are about to start a new project or a new role. Part 2 then devotes three chapters to each component of the formula. Part 3 addresses broader aspects of leadership such as delegation, timing, power, culture and developing your career as a leader.
In terms of format, this book portrays a dramatic ‘true-to-life’ story, summarising the relevant leadership technique at the end of each chapter. And woven through these chapters are several other themes:
1. Leadership almost always involves initiating and driving change. Nowadays, in a world of no status quos, no leader can preside serenely over an organisation that he or she fails to develop. For example, while the leader may sometimes appear to act simply as a spokesman for his team or organisation, he or she rarely does this in the role of mere figurehead. Invariably the leader is using this role to build a shared vision, or inspiration, or momentum. Even when acting as a spokesperson, the leader is leading change.
2. Leadership is a highly creative activity. The leader is adept at encouraging the initiative and creativity of the other people in his or her organisation. But no leader can survive for long without generating his or her own ideas. The ideas may relate to relationships with the external marketplace, or to the organisation’s internal processes or culture. Sadly, this aspect of leadership is often overlooked – and only the very best leaders explicitly set aside time for their own creative efforts.
3. Leadership is an intrinsically interpersonal activity. Effective leaders typically spend at least 80 per cent of their time actually talking to people. To accomplish this, they are extremely well organised and they delegate well – they do not allow administrative work to consume time better spent in face-to-face discussions.
4. The leader is always more effective when the relevant people buy in to proposals. Occasionally the leader does need to act without having built a consensus beforehand. While this courage to go against the grain when needed is an important trait of the leader, this book focuses on the former more productive approach.
5. Timing is important in developing a career as a leader. Most successful leaders assert that they were lucky to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of their particular brand of leadership skills. But in crediting their success to luck, they are probably being unduly humble. In reality, those who develop their skills as leaders tend to seek further opportunities to exercise those skills. Their career success usually stems from their courage in moving on voluntarily from ‘good but undemanding’ positions – to exercise leadership in ever-broader arenas.
We are all obliged to lead. Leadership is not the exclusive territory of the chief executive or army general. Each of us is placed in the position of having to lead something at sometime: we lead the family, the group of friends, the team at work, the small business, or the multinational corporation. In our world of increasing opportunities and our era that demands ever-greater personal initiative, leadership is a life-skill that we all need to develop if we are to fulfil our potential, and are to avoid the frustration of always dancing to someone else’s tune.
I hope this book helps you to exercise leadership – so that you take initiatives in realms where you otherwise might merely have ‘followed’, or ‘managed’, or ‘been managed’. Being an effective and responsible leader undoubtedly brings greater freedom and fulfilment. It almost certainly brings greater career success as well.
Max Landsberg
January, 2003
Despite possessing divine insight, ‘The Mumblers’ rarely pulled a crowd.
In which Alex’s perfect plan is tested
Alex was not enjoying his first day as Chief Executive of DKNU – the struggling advertising agency that he’d been brought in to rescue.
He should have been feeling more confident, of course. Having just turned thirty, having graduated near the top of his class at business school, and having been offered a senior role at the consumer products company where he’d spent the last eight years, he had reason to feel more assured.
But he’d left behind the security of working with his former employer. Lured by the prospect of casting off the shackles of large-company politics, he had jumped at the opportunity to run his own show. And as his friends all seemed to be starting their own Internet companies, Alex had felt this was the time to forsake security – in favour of adventure. He’d had enough of being managed by others, and now wanted to prove he could be a leader.
But now, as Doug – DKNU’s Director of Client Services – continued his onslaught, Alex was starting to realise the enormity of the challenges that lay ahead. The advertising world seemed far less genteel than the industry Alex had just left.
‘… and you call this a plan?’ shouted Doug at last, waving the offending document. ‘It’s just an Excel spreadsheet wrapped up in fancy covers! This kind of stuff might have helped you rescue a consumer goods company, but it won’t work in advertising. Advertising is a people business.’
Alex kept his cool. He held Doug’s defiant gaze, and resisted the temptation to glance at the turnaround plan that he, Alex, had put together in the month since accepting his new job.
It had been as a peace offering that Alex had given Doug an advance copy of the plan. He’d known that Doug had secretly hoped to be appointed chief executive ~ and Alex had hoped that his confiding in Doug would help to establish a truce. The only other copy of the plan was with Sandra, the creative director.
‘It’s just a bunch of numbers,’ insisted Doug, ‘targets, ratios and deadlines. And nobody ever gave their heart and soul for a goddamn ratio. Painting by numbers might work, but not leading by numbers!’
‘I appreciate your … uuh … frankness,’ replied Alex, ‘and I’ll take on board your comments. But let’s get one thing straight,’ he continued firmly. ‘I don’t mind if you complain. I don’t even mind if you shout. But next time you’d better have something constructive to add. We’ve got six months to make this agency viable. Six months at most! But I can’t do it by myself, and nor can you. We’re going to have to work together. So let’s agree that we can both shout at each other, but only – only – if we’ve got something constructive to say.’
After Doug had left, Alex drummed his fingers on his desk and pondered. He did expect trouble from his meeting later that afternoon with the wildly creative Sandra. But he hoped that Doug would be more receptive. Doug was in charge of the ‘suits’ – the account handlers who interacted directly with clients – and he was more used to the targets and management disciplines inherent in the turnaround plan.
Now, as Alex thought about the other directors, he wasn’t sure what to expect any longer. Terry was in charge of Media – primarily buying airtime on TV and column-inches in magazines. Surely he’d be supportive when he saw the plan? Frank was in charge of Planning – market analyses and consumer research. Surely he’d be comfortable with the numbers and ratios? Luke was in charge of Traffic – ensuring that the various advertising campaigns wended their way through the other departments on time. How could he disagree?
But Alex was in for a surprise when he met with Sandra.
‘I suppose it might work,’ she said vaguely, after Alex had asked her about his plan.
‘Really?’ asked Alex, hardly daring to believe that he’d won the support of an influential director of the agency so quickly. ‘So you think we can achieve these targets?’
‘Oh I don’t know about the targets,’ she replied. ‘We always leave these targets and numbers to the guys in finance. After all, digit stuff’s for widget buffs.’
‘But this is a plan to rescue the entire agency,’ exclaimed Alex. ‘And you’re one of the most important people here … we can’t do this without you … surely you’ve got some view on whether we can achieve these specific objectives?’
‘Sorry, Alex – I’m really not sure. That plan is all about numbers, but the only way to really rescue this agency is with a breakthrough. A really creative campaign. One that will win some awards. In fact we need more resources, not less.’
Alex eventually gave up on the conversation, and returned to his office. He fished out his Palm Pilot and found the phone number for his former colleague and mentor, Michael.
Perhaps this plan does need more work, thought Alex, as he reached for the phone to seek Michael’s advice. Perhaps this plan is too much about numbers. Too much about managing, and not enough about leading … Not enough that’s visionary and inspiring.
But the phone rang before he could pick it up.
It was Steve, the Finance Director, on the line. ‘The bankers just called. They want to meet with us. They want their loans repaid, even if it means closing us down.’
The essence of leadership is the ability to create vision, inspiration and momentum in a group of people.
People are not led by plans and analysis. Rather, they are led by this trinity of other things. And the truly effective leader focuses nearly all his actions on creating them – using different skills for each element of the trinity.
1 The Vision is a positive image of what the organisation could become, and the path towards that destination. To create a shared vision, the leader is always hungry for novel ideas that fit with the organisation’s strategy, and is smart enough to spot good ones. But crucially, he is also artistic enough to fashion those ideas into images and stories that are intriguing, meaningful and realisable.
2 Inspiration, within the individuals that comprise the organisation, is what moves people to action. The leader uses his interpersonal skills to excite his people, and helps them to see how they may themselves benefit from both the journey and the arrival. He helps them to see ‘the word made flesh’.
3 Momentum, of the organisation’s projects and initiatives, is what carries the organisation to its destination. Using his own energy and problem-solving skills, the leader keeps the mission on course.
It is on all three of these dimensions that true leaders deliver strongly. The visionary is not a leader if he cannot also inspire. The momentum-sustainer is not a leader if he cannot create a shared vision.
So, for small teams as well as for large corporations:
Leadership = Vision × Inspiration × Momentum
Of this trinity, it is the leader’s ability to create a shared vision and to inspire the organisation that most sets him apart from the ‘manager’, as we shall see.
Effective leaders create substantial amounts of Vision, Inspiration and Momentum in their teams:
Note: effective leaders normally – though not always – start by developing a vision, subsequently addressing inspiration and momentum as well.
Use appendix 1 to assess your current leadership profile, and the ways in which you will extend it.
Until now the hostile bid for Dave’s Slings ’n’ Things had been going pretty well …
In which Alex distinguishes tools from traits
Later that day, Alex and Michael were talking earnestly over an evening drink. They’d known each other for four years, Michael had been Alex’s unofficial mentor at the company where they had both worked. When Michael had asked how he was settling into his new role at the agency, Alex asked if they could meet to talk about it.
‘So tell me about this plan of yours,’ asked Michael.
‘I’ve got six months to make the agency viable,’ started Alex. ‘After that we’ll have run out of cash – simple as that. We have to get the revenues up, make the place a whole lot more efficient, and cut the costs.’ Alex reached into his briefcase for his plan. ‘There are ten key steps …’
‘Forget the papers,’ interrupted Michael. ‘Just tell me what you’re planning to do.’
‘OK … during the last few years this agency has been losing more clients than it’s been winning. It’s also lost its creative edge. But it’s an old-fashioned place – so they haven’t reduced their costs or fired anyone. As a result, all their ratios are out of line with the industry norms. My turnaround plan focuses on getting them at least back on par. They need a 10 per cent increase in billings per account handler, and an average 10 per cent increase in output from each of the creative guys.