The Leadership Challenge

The Leadership Challenge shares the top leadership lessons from 25 years of experience and research of authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner and explains what makes successful managers and how you can apply the same principles to become one yourself.

It’s much easier to persuade someone to follow you if you’re doing the right thing than if you’re merely telling them what to do. Sometimes this even results in people changing their behavior without even realizing it!

Imagine your boss comes into work in basketball shorts and a T-shirt. Are you likely to follow his demand that you wear a suit every day? Of course not! And on the flip side, if he wears a nice suit to work, you won’t feel comfortable coming in shorts and a T-shirt yourself!

Take inspiration also from the example of Steve Skarke. After becoming a plant manager he noticed a lot of garbage around the place. Skarke knew that the company had a goal of becoming a “world-class plant.” And he recognized that the garbage wasn’t helping.

It would have been easy for him to start barking rude orders for people to “clean up their act.” But he took the higher road. Skarke bought a trash can and went around collecting garbage every day.

Eventually, he noticed that he didn’t have to pick up as much anymore. His team had followed his example and started cleaning up after themselves without him even asking!

The moral of the story is, if you want those you lead to do something or act a certain way, it’s best to show them how by doing it yourself.

If it weren’t for the proactive attitude of one Starbucks manager, the Frappuccino might not exist. Initially, the company didn’t want to invest in blenders. But this manager knew that her drink creation, which required a blender to make, would be a hit. So instead of just giving up, she bought her own blender and began using it to make the drink. Years later, the Frappuccino is one of Starbucks’ most popular drinks and has made the company millions of dollars. It’s easy to stay within your comfort zone and bow to the commands of upper leadership. But often, you’ll discover the best opportunities only by venturing into the unknown. Be open to receiving ideas at any moment and from any place. Once you do take the leap of faith to implement a new idea, things can take off in unimaginable ways. And while everybody would love that new opportunity, most don’t think about potential improvements. This is why you as a leader must take charge to think proactively. Innovation like this requires that you have a good baseline understanding…