The X Factor
Just what do Carly Fiorina, Steve Jobs and HBR have in common? Courage? Collaboration? Character?

Every day the subject of leadership is discussed, we often hear about the examination of leadership traits, and have plenty of examples in the market place to draw from. Yet mostly it is about how ‘not to do things’, and every so often we here about wisdom that should be followed, that unlocks a few demonstrable exceptions to the rule.

Recently, there has been some interesting discussion about this topic, both from an observational leader perspective, and from the scholastic perspective too. For once, the educators have clear alignment with leaders in the market place. The Harvard Business Review recently published an article (also published under this link by CIO Magazine) entitled ‘In Praise of The Incomplete Leader’ which focuses simply on how great leaders know what ‘they are good at’ and focus on honing these skills, and at the same time know what ‘they are bad at’ - but recognise these gaps or deficiencies, and seek out people to collaborate with in order to achieve success. In fact, the authors go further to suggest that great leaders don’t try to do it all, but naturally find alignment with other leaders that together makes them complete.

Martin Warner recently spoke with Carly Fiorina (Former Chairman and CEO of HP, and author of best selling book ‘Tough Choices’) [speaker profile] about Leadership. Carly pointed out that you need to be an
exceptional collaborator, supporting the HBR article’s view point, but went further to suggest that having the right ‘fabric’ in the leader is important. By that, Carly believed that having a strong character that could seek out different perspectives, always ready to continue the learning process (even if you are a CEO) and be courageous enough to follow unconventional wisdom - these attributes were at the centre of her decision to merge HP with Compaq - the controversial merger that made HP a leader in technology.

Carly Fiorina Interview>>

Dare to be different?

In a recent article entitled ‘The trouble with Steve Jobs’ that featured in Fortune, they focused again on similar positive attributes that have been at the core of why scholars, leaders and media believe Steve Jobs is the most successful leader in today’s world. What was interesting is again, this common thread that great leaders do not necessarily follow conventional wisdom. In fact, they break rules, define their own, and then convince the masses to follow. Steve Jobs has certainly done that in the way he transformed Apple into the most desired consumer company on the planet. Also, it is clear that Jobs has shown how to orchestrate powerful partnerships that are behind a whole string of product opportunities that Apple are engaged in. His ability to collaborate well through partnerships is clearly at the heart of Apple’s success and nine year renaissance!

A leader has to possess…
So how do we sum up a simple set of modern leadership principles that everyone can agree on? There is some important correlation that exists between these articles and other literature in the market today. These principles can be summarised as follows:

Outstanding Character
Innovative Collaboration
Consistent Values
Outstanding Character

\The very few exceptional leaders have a few things in common, they have unique characters that focus on strong visions, unconventional wisdom, calculated risk-taking and charisma that translates in communicating to their teams why they should take that ‘high road’. In Carly Fiorina’s great example, Carly at times was out there alone with the decision to do the Compaq merger, clearly today, it was the best thing for HP, and has given them their dominant position they hold today in technology. Clearly, Steve Job’s has made several bets that at first seemed unconventional and indeed unproven, but just like Pixar where he bet computer animation could be developed into feature length films, and the iPhone could be the next killer platform - again, he proves that rare character we all seek out if wanting to join the elite of leaders.

Innovative Collaboration
All three short stories above demonstrate that the best leader knows their own weaknesses, and focuses on their strengths, while successfully seeking out creative partnerships with people and corporations that can bring together the complete skills and experiences necessary to achieve a successful leadership position. Yet, the ideal CEO and chief collaborator does more than just that. The CEO orchestrates all the resources and ensures they work effectively from the internal workforce, to outsourcers and importantly with partner companies in their supply-side eco-system. The innovative collaborator validates their vision through this important orchestration of resources to deliver on their vision.

Consistent Values
A more subtle message in all leadership stories today is the foundation in which each leader builds from. Great leaders orchestrate and communicate with their organisation in an efficient and consistent manner. Never being second guessed, always providing sound reason for their direction setting statements. It requires the leader to have great values that day-in, day-out stay consistent and are easy to read. More and more leaders, at some point, change their beliefs to suit situations, yet the greatest leaders remain steadfast to their values. It is proven that people engage more effectively if they can trust and understand a leaders beliefs - if these are under-pinned by values that everyone can align to, the leader is going to reach his audience every time.