Leadership lessons: What’s good about great?

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A coaching client asked me the other day what was the difference between a “good” leader and a “great” leader.

This made me think hard. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a leader as “a person in control of a group, country, or situation’. That frankly is too narrow a definition, even for an erstwhile control freak like me.

So, then what makes a good leader?

Let’s set aside charisma, since it can’t be learned and also because charismatic leaders don’t necessarily make effective ones.

I can think of three crucial points when it comes to good leaders. A leader…

•  Always goes first. They speak when others stay silent and take bold initiatives despite the risks
•  Is consistently optimistic
• Focuses on people and knows how to deal with people. They develop people, mobilise them and earn their trust

Good leaders also have the traits of courage, integrity, resilience, generosity and concern. And they all get the job done.

What then makes great leaders?

This is where it gets more complicated.

Let’s look at a well-known framework — five levels of leadership (below) — advocated by author and researcher Jim Collins (Built to Last, Good to Great). It’s based on more than 25 years of research by Collins on what makes great companies and leaders tick.

The leaders we know whether professional or political are mostly at Level 4.  They communicate effectively, set a strategy for the firm, encourage employees to excel and make smart decisions. These are good leaders. But they are not great ones.

The reason is Level 4 leaders lead in an egotistical and self-fulfilling way. These leaders are task-focused, transactional, develop others (but not themselves), top down and talk more than listen. You’ll see them featured on magazine covers, in the news and interviews, taking all the credit. They will have a large and loyal cult following. They overshadow everyone around them and they are larger than life: the likes of Jack Welch, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bob Iger, Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg.

So, are we stuck? Perhaps not.

Because Collins talks of the final level:  the Level 5 ‘executive’. He is all of Level 4 without the ego and with lots of will and self-awareness, someone who places the interests of the company higher than his interests.

But that’s not enough. Sure, you mustn’t be there just to (to paraphrase a former CEO of mine) “enhance my personal net worth”, but that trait, even with superb navigation of the company, doesn’t make you a great leader.  To prove my point, of the 11 companies selected as “great” by Collins, Circuit City and Fannie Mae have since fallen from grace, with Abbott Labs and Wells Fargo doing okay.

I think what marks a great leader is that they:

•  Build institutions or cultures long after they are gone
•  Create other leaders

These are critical factors. One big reason any company becomes successful is its “unique” culture. That’s also the way to stay successful for generations. And if you are a CEO who is paranoid enough to eliminate any contenders then there will be no leadership bench and the company will pay a hefty price post your departure.

This means that whether you are a great leader or not will only be known well after you leave the organisation.

If you look at it from this perspective, most high-profile business leaders don’t make the cut.

The issues created by Jack Welch at GE (1981-2001) were discovered by his handpicked successor Jeff Immelt (2001-2017), who also oversaw the downfall of this mainstay of American industry.  Or take IBM for that matter. After enjoying spectacular success under Thomas Watson and Thomas Watson Jr, this technology icon went into decline for the next 50 years under multiple CEOs such as John Opel, John Akers, Louis Gerstner and Sam Palmisano. There are more such examples.

Can I think of examples of great leaders? Yes, in fact, closer to home than I imagined. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan united the trucial states in 1971 and is the founding father of the UAE, a nation that has grown tremendously in every possible way in the last 50 years and is an oasis of peace and prosperity in an otherwise volatile region thanks to leaders groomed by him. The late Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum was responsible for the transformation of Dubai from a small cluster of settlements to a modern port city and commercial hub. Thirty-four years after his death in 1990, Dubai has only grown bigger and better because he created a culture and legacy for the leaders who have followed him. Singapore still is, 34 years after founder Lee Kuan Yew stepped down, a model of good governance. The Tata Group in India is a good example of business excellence.

You may ask why we need great leaders. Aren’t they a luxury? I say we need great leaders because only then will institutions live long, continue to deliver important products and services, employ millions, and inspire us.

The writer is an executive coach, keynote speaker, corporate trainer and author of Let’s get Real’ –  42 Tips for the Stuck Manager