White Papers & Articles

Are you an effective leader? 

​If you answered ‘Yes’, how did you come to that conclusion?  Did you base your answer off your company financial performance,  goal achievement track record or your wonderful employee morale? What if Peter Drucker himself had an opportunity to review your leadership work, do you think he would come to the same conclusion? 

If by chance you are new to the philosophies and teachings of Peter Drucker I highly suggest taking some time to familiarize yourself with his works.  Short and sweet – Drucker is considered the godfather of business leadership and is responsible for much of what we know today on how effective leaders work and operate.  His works redefined leadership through the 60s, 70s and 80s and we still refer to his teaching on the daily today.

What makes for an effective leader?  Let’s ask Drucker himself.  ‘The Effective Executive’, a leadership book for the times and originally published in 1967, provides eye opening insight on exceptional leadership in ways which broke the mold back then and continue to do so today.  ‘The Effective Executive’ provides a straight forward, simplistic guide to “getting the right things done” for people in a leadership capacity.  What I found amazing about this book is how relevant and simplistic Drucker’s advice is, even for today’s purposes 52 years later in a business world that is far different from when these thoughts were put to paper.

So, what is it then that makes for an effective leader?

All too often I find people enjoy making the topic of leadership how-to’s overly complicated.  Maybe they do that to sell more books or to justify their new and insightful leadership methodology.  For me, I’ve found the more simplistic something is the better chance I have in understanding it, implementing it and continuing to act on it as a new habit. 

Drucker’s approach to leadership success and effectiveness is simplicity at its best.  He identifies the following five core competencies successful leaders should have as a part of the fabric that guides them through their daily work:

1. Managing Time
2. Focus on outward contributions, gearing efforts towards results
3. Knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect
4. Setting the right priorities
5. Combining #1-4 with effective decision making

Humbly, I’d like to offer up a 6th leadership core competency to add to Drucker’s list:

1. Empathy. Modern day leadership requires emotional intelligence, or simpler put and ability to be empathetic and understanding of others, especially ones employees.

While this list may seem incredibly simple, I can tell you from personal experience it’s anything but that.  Often times the most simplistic things in life can be the most difficult to master.  Why?  Because it takes discipline.  Though these concepts may be easy to understand, the difficultly comes in the form of holding oneself accountable to doing it above all other things.  That’s the tough part! 

“Intelligence, imagination and knowledge are essential resources [for a leader], but only effectiveness converts them into results.” – Peter Drucker

Being disciplined to doing the right thing at the right time is certainly easier said than done.  So much so that Drucker identifies that the number one reason for leadership failure is the inability or willingness to change with the demands of and expectations of the new job.

Key Take Away:
The leaders’ who are willing to change and adapt while being disciplined to doing the right things at the right time are the ones that will be the most effective.

Action Item:
Read Drucker’s book ‘The Effective Executive’.  Regardless of your job title the insight you’ll gain from his timeless approaches to leadership is worth every minute you spend reading it.
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​In this weeks Monday Quickie Recap we talk about our article ‘How to be Successful in the Start-Up World’ and the importance of working outside of the box and your respective job description, as well as the impact good/ bad leadership can have on small companies.