In the March issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, the editor in chief, Amy Cosper, provided some interesting insights into the topic of being a leader.
She made the statement that “leadership is never about you.” Her point was that being a true leader is not about being a “boss” or about “being in control.” I completely agree with both (control is an illusion anyway!)
To be a great leader, specifically as the President/CEO of an organization, if I can steal a term from Gino Wickman, author of Traction, you must be a “visionary.” The leader has to live the vision for the organization and be able to inspire his team to help in achieving that vision.
Steve Jobs is a great example of a visionary leader, and even though he might have been a very tough boss, he was able to inspire his team at Apple to achieve greatness. Clearly he had a vision and had to deal with many individuals who thought he was crazy, but in the end was able to leave a mark on society with the output of his vision.
Being a visionary leader is vital to the long-term success of any leader. It should be part of the job description for anyone in the top seat of any organization. Without a vision, and a leader who is continually living and communicating that vision to his team, an organization can succeed, but in my view will never achieve greatness.
When I say “greatness” I am not only speaking about the bottom line, I am including all aspects of an organization. One area that I feel particularly strong about is what makes an organization truly “great” is that it must have a strong culture – actually more than just strong – the culture must be a true differentiator.
AH has been selected as a “best place to work” seven out of the last eight years, most recently this year! This designation is one that comes from input from the staff to a web-based, anonymous survey. Based on the staff’s rating on many aspects of an organization the company is given a “score” and then that number is used to judge against other companies of the same size.
We are extremely proud of all of the awards and recognition that AH has been honored with over the years, but as the CEO, having the staff feel so positive about the company is the recognition that means the most to me.
The fact that the staff feels so strongly about AH, is a true differentiator, and our client partners can feel very good that their staff likes coming to work every day, and of course the fact that the staff are happy comes across in how they interact with our clients and their members.
To be as successful as we are comes from having great leadership (AH has built a world-class management team) and the recognition by that team in supporting the company vision, and it’s not about us, but rather about building a world class organization.
