In “The Leadership Challenge” authors Kouzes and Posner talk about the five practices of exemplary leadership. The first two practices were Model the Way and Inspire a Shared Vision which I discussed in my last two blog posts. The third practice the authors discuss is Challenge the Process.

They say that exemplary leaders search for opportunities and experiment and take risks. Leaders are able to take initiative in searching out new opportunities and looking outside of their organization for inspiration. They network, create partnerships, innovate, and make something happen by being proactive. They also encourage other people in their businesses to look for opportunities and actively look at trends outside of their business in order to find opportunities.

Leaders are also willing to take risks. They know that the great opportunities or innovations never come without taking great risks. But the authors say the way to take risks is by taking small steps and generating small wins as well as learning from experience. It is important for leaders to keep learning and growing. If they take small steps and learn from those steps they will be able to increase their confidence and ultimately get the big win.  Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln are great examples of leaders who failed many times, but eventually became great leaders through that experience of failing.

Finally the authors say that leaders are resilient. They learn from their failures and learn how to become stronger in order to overcome those mistakes. They grow from those experiences and ultimately become even stronger leaders as a result. Leadership is about change - being open to change, embracing change, and looking for change.

So are you taking risks in your business? Are you searching for opportunities in the current business trends? Are you continuously learning and growing in order to expand your possibilities as a leader?  If not what small step can you take today in order to do so?

The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner discusses  five practices of exemplary leadership. The first practice was called Model the Way which I talked about in my last blog post. In this post I will discuss the second practice called Inspire a Shared Vision.

The authors say that Inspiring a Shared Vision is made up of envisioning the future and enlisting others. As a leader it is important to have a dream, to see the future in a way that perhaps others don’t and create a vision so compelling that others want to be a part of it. In today’s world Steve Jobs was a great example of this.

Leaders are dreamers and can see trends before others. They learn from their past, look at their present, and envision a future that encompasses their values and heart. 

Once leaders create a vision they then enlist others to engage in that dream as well. They show their passion, engage with others, and appeal to their common ideals. They find something that is meaningful to them as well as to others in order to come together for the cause. 

They do this through the use of language - storytelling, metaphors, images, and positive communication. A great example is Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” Speech which inspired and enlisted millions of people into a collective vision using the power of language.

I believe that creating a vision is a crucial part of the success for any business leader. It provides a compass for what you are trying to achieve and inspires you because it is based upon something you are passionate about.

What is your vision for the future? Are you passionate about that vision? How can you engage and enlist others in your dream? What stories can you tell that will engage others to want to collectively move forward? 

“The Leadership Challenge” by Kouzes and Posner is a guide to leadership development based on years of research. It is a practical guide which discusses five practices of exemplary leadership. Each of the next five blog posts will discuss one of these leadership practices.

The first leadership practice is called Model the Way. The authors say that exemplary leaders know who they are, have a voice, and communicate their beliefs out to others. They truly stand for something and are willing to fight for the beliefs that they espouse. They have values that they hold dear, which they have explored and tested to ensure they truly believe in them. Exemplary leaders also are able to share those values and create agreements and common understanding around them.

Exemplary leaders also Model the Way by setting an example. They follow through on what they say they are going to do, personify the shared values of the group, and spend their time living the values that they espouse. They also teach others to live by these values by confronting critical incidents (e.g. - unexpected events) and reinforcing good behavior.

In the research in their book people chose Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln as examples of exemplary leaders because they had strong beliefs that they followed through on in order to Model the Way for others.

What values do you espouse? Are you living those values? Are you creating an agreement around those values with others in your organization?  Are you modeling the way in your organization?

The last section of “Breaking Away: How Great Leaders Create Innovation That Drives Sustainable Growth - And Why Others Fail” talks about how to activate growth in your people, in the marketplace, and in yourself as a leader. The authors say that the culture of the organization needs to be open to innovation and the customers of the product/service need to be receptive to it in order for innovation to truly take hold.

In an organizational culture where innovation can thrive the authors say many of the following traits exist: people feel valued, there is a collaborative environment, there is a solution orientation as well as trust, honesty, open communication, a celebration of learning from success and failure, an embracing of diversity, a drive to provide value to customers, and a culture of empowerment. Overall the culture is accepting and open for people to thrive and grow and take risks to achieve their vision. 

From an activating the market perspective the authors say that innovation really comes down to understanding what customers want or need and why they want it.  A product or services needs to fill a desire that the customer either knows or may not even know they had. Once you find the right combination to really entice your customers to buy then the authors say it is about communicating with them and getting early adopters who will advocate for your product or service. Finally it ends with getting continuous feedback and making updates to the product/service as a result.

Finally as a leader it is getting yourself activated by creating a vision, setting metrics/benchmarks, doing a gap analysis and then taking the steps to fill the gap. 

It takes courage to innovate as well as good conditions within your organization as well as with your customers in order for a product/service to be successful. Having the ability to take risks personally as well as an organization is going to be dependent how safe and secure you feel in yourself and your organization to take those risks.

How willing are you to activate your innovative skills? How in tune is your organization with customers? How willing are to create the right culture in your organization to allow for innovation to thrive?

In the second part of “Breaking Away” the authors Jane Stevenson and Bilal Kaafarani say that without leadership there is no innovation. They say that innovation can be an inspiration, but leadership is the way that it becomes reality or a commercial success.

The authors say that true leaders create an environment in their organizations to allow innovation to prosper as well as become successful. It shields the innovation from the quarterly financial mindset of many organizations and creates an atmosphere that encourages employees to try things and fail. Innovation leadership also inspires people to take risks and reach their potential.

They define innovative leaders in four ways: 

1.Have certain capabilities and characteristics such as confidence, intuitive, good listening skills, genuine, courageous, humble, and tenacious as well as the ability to dream big and have others follow that dream

2.Have a large network and affiliations outside of just their organization in order to broaden their thinking and learn and grow from others

3.Whole thinking or being able to balance both right brain (creative, intuitive) and left-brain (logical, analytical) thinking

4.Sustainability through living in a balanced way (e.g. - having interests outside of work, having downtime, etc)

They then break down these innovative leaders into personality types described below: 

1.Transformational leader - bold, visionary, independent, see things in a way that few other people can, want to change the world

2.Category leader - a builder and thrives on growth opportunities, entrepreneurial, comfortable with risk, like to be in a collaborative environment

3.Marketplace leader - know the game plan and what their role is, in tune with other’s moods, emotions, politically savvy, and good at motivating

4.Operational leader - organized, detail oriented, risk averse, need for safety and predictability

Each of these types of personalities can be present in an organization at different times in order to help a company or business go to another level. In a previous company I worked for the leader to took the company public was a category leader, but then the leader who was brought in to stabilize and eventually sell the company was more of an operational leader. Each leader brought in different types of skills and yet were needed at that particular time in the growth of the company.

What type of personality are you as a leader or are the leaders in your organizations? Do you have the characteristics of an innovative leader? How can you develop or hone some of the characteristics of this type of leader?