[December 20, 2014] Historically, the most important factor of senior leadership is getting results. This is why, today at least, it is vital to have a senior leader who has a good moral foundation and can thus be trusted to do the right thing. Furthermore, the best senior leaders will never believe the end justifies the means to achieve a goal. That is simply unacceptable.
To leaders, the means (processes and methods) we use to reach our ends (missions and goals), are just as important as the ways (resources available) to get there. This is why, in my opinion, Socialism is such a failure. Socialism fails because the dream (the ends) of a utopian society has historically been achieved through the barrel of a gun and the gulag (the means and ways). When millions die because of the Socialist ideology, which occurred in the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and elsewhere in the 20th Century, it tells us much about the means to achieving a goal. The means and ways, therefore, are pretty darn important.
Some people will tell us that the “intent” of the leader is important. Frankly, results matter more. In Western societies we’ve been tilting toward the “intent” of a leader by which to judge them. However this runs counter to the idea of a good leader. True, a leader must first believe in the cause, but then the leader must actually achieve the goal of that cause.
Furthermore, there are no excuses for failure. If a leader is senior enough, it is expected that they are able foresee all possible barriers to success and have taken appropriate action. A senior leader telling us something could not be done, that they previously signed up to do, is contemptible. In the military we are fond of saying, “the maximum effective range of an excuse is zero meters.”
Getting results also means getting those results even when the leader has no authority and must rely upon other subjective skills, such as persuasion. Persuasion and other social skills are essential. It is indeed rare that the senior leader will possess all the resources and permissions needed to get things done. That is why developing relationships, creating trust and confidence in others, and influencing people to achieve greater things is so important.
Senior leaders get things done. They do it ethically and by taking care of people. They aspire loyalty though tough times and good. They have, what we call, gravitas!
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