Finding the Right Mix: Leadership vs. "Executiveship"
It is becoming increasingly evident in today’s society that we have over indexed on developing, appreciating, acknowledging, and rewarding, a focus on "execution". That is not to say that there is anything ‘wrong’ with that as such; things get done by those who execute. But the issue that remains, and has been brought about over the past three, possibly four, decades, is the fact that execution appears to have come at the expense of Leadership. In fact, it has compromised the ability to hone the quality of skills we desire, or uphold, as “Great Leadership”
When asked about the lack of great statesmen in the world, Napolean responded – and bear with me as I paraphrase here – “In order to become a great statesmen, you have to be willing to be petty, focus on the little things, compromise your values to achieve greatness…. In order to be a great statesmen, you have to be willing and able to see beyond the little things or what is immediate, see the vision others cannot see, and have the strength of character to persevere and inspire others to do the same. Rarely can or do the two co-exist in one human being at the same time.”
Executives,execute. By the nature of their title, they are required to accomplish what is expected and asked of them. For this reason, they have a goal/ objective orientation that is often reinforced with financial rewards for their execution. They are focused on “getting things done”, often at the cost of creating cultures of expediency, survival (of the fittest), “unhealthy competition”, or misaligned interests. Don’t get me wrong – execution-oriented individuals have also created cultures whereby the impossible is possible, there are high standards of efficiency and excelling,and a greater degree of flexibility to do whatever is needed to get things done.
Leaders,dream. They envision. They inspire. By nature, leaders see things others cannot see, or at least that which others do not see, either easily or clearly. They embody a boldness, a sense of courage, that allows them to dare to dream AND to express those dreams. Leaders “enroll” others into what is “seen” – their vision; they inspire their teams, rather than simply dragging others along for the ride. They value alignment (distinct from ‘agreement’), for it is in a lockstep that they believe the vision can be reality. Theirs is a culture of passion, creation, longer-term thinking, endurance, perseverance, dedication to a greater “good”. Again, don’t get me wrong; this culture is far from perfect. In some cases, it breeds autocracy, dogma, ideation without materialization, irrational business practices, etc.
The bottom line – neither the ethos of an executive or a leader is enough alone. It is the balance of both that makes a high-performing person, or team, great. The problem today is that the imbalance that currently exists, the over-valuing of execution over leadership, has become a compromise. Our job is to find, groom, develop, and SUPPORT individuals to find the right balance between leading their teams and organizations, and simply executing to meet a set of objectives, so that we are once again able to achieve greatness in our corporations, countries, and communities.