DEVELOPING

STRONGER
LEADERS

HOW-TO GUIDE
 Developing Stronger Leaders
HOW-TO GUIDE

What makes a great leader? How can leaders improve? This report has been designed to provide
practical advice for both aspiring and accomplished leaders.

Read this brief report to learn:

Definition of Organizational Leadership

Difference between Leaders & Managers
Essential Leadership Qualities
Key Leadership Styles
Leadership Principles & Best Practices

Read this report to identify opportunities to further develop and maintain strong leadership in
your organization.

What Is Organizational Leadership?

From an organizational perspective, leadership can be defined as: the ability to influence,
motivate, and enable people to attain goals and contribute toward improving the effectiveness
and efficiency of an organization.

Why is developing strong leaders such a top priority?

Leaders initiate and sustain the cycles of organizational change. Without encouraging and inspira-
tional leaders, organizations are fragmented, unaligned, and demoralized. Top companies recog-
nize that they are only as successful as their next great leaders, and work to constantly groom and
develop key staff.

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Leaders vs Managers
In 1977, Abraham Zaleznik documented some of the key differences between leadership and
management. He viewed leaders as inspiring visionaries who are interested in prospects; while
managers he viewed as planners who are concerned more with processes.

Following in his path, Warren Bennis (1989) documented the leader/manager dichotomy to help
organizations evaluate their key players.

Leaders Managers
Power by Influence Power by Position
Inspire Innovation Manage Administration
Ask What and Why Ask How and When
Focus on People Focus on Systems/Processes
Do the Right Things Do Things Right
Inspire Trust Rely on Control
Long-term Perspective Short-term Perspective
Develop Maintain
Challenge the Status-Quo Accept the Status-Quo
Eye on the Horizon Eye on the Bottom-line
Originate Imitate
Free Thinking Rigid Thinking

Essential Leadership Qualities

Many studies have shown that there are common traits or qualities that most leaders share.
Review the following list of qualities and evaluate yourself to identify your areas of strength and
opportunities for self-improvement.

Vision - the ability to articulate a vision and outline the gaps between the current state and
future state.
Confidence - outstanding leaders are confident, determined, and persistent with reaching
their goals.
Role Model - leading by example and setting the standard by demonstrating that goals are
attainable.
Flexibility - being able to quickly adapt and positively respond to changing conditions.
Optimistic - leaders must have a positive attitude.

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 Talent/Technical Skill - many leaders are selected because of their natural aptitude or ability
to complete a specific task.
Initiative & Drive - having enthusiasm to do the job and displaying entrepreneurial tendencies
are vital qualities of effective leaders.
Charisma - being attractive to others and leveraging this esteem to inspire and motivate
others.
Dedication and Commitment - being a top leader requires a firm commitment and can some-
times even consume much of the leader’s life.
Results-Oriented - actions are prioritized and directed at achieving personal and team goals
& objectives.
Able to Delegate - encouraging others to grow by sharing responsibilities and credit for a job
well done.
Self-Aware - accurate understanding of abilities.

Key Leadership Styles

This section will differentiate 6 key leadership styles and discuss when each style is appropriate.

Visionary - this style builds positive momentum by motivating people to accomplish shared
dreams. Visionary leadership is the most positive style, and is best used when organizational
changes require a new vision or strategic direction.
Coaching - is the process of aligning personal and corporate interests, such as earning
commission by making sales. Coaching is a very positive method, appropriate when devel-
oping capabilities and skills.
Affiliate - connecting people to each other can have a positive impact on culture, such as
arranging a company volleyball team.
Democratic - a democratic style, by nature, develops commitment by leveraging the ideas of
the constituents and is useful for driving consensus, or gathering feedback from staff.
Pacesetting - this works most effectively with a motivated and competent team. Leaders
communicate challenging goals and build an environment of excitement. Often, this style has
a negative impact on culture, especially when the leader is unable to implement this strategy
properly. Set the pace when the engine is already running very smoothly.
Commanding - this style can be effective when clear direction needs to be given to deal with
an crisis or when a massive organizational change needs to be made.

The best leaders are able to seamlessly transition between styles as circumstances change. Work
to understand each style and determine the appropriate time to pull it out of your leadership toolkit.

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Leadership Principles & Best Practices
“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie has sold over 30 million copies.
Amazingly, this book was written 70 years ago. These leadership principles are time-tested and
applicable in every country of the world.

Following is a recap of the 30 principles Dale Carnegie taught developing leaders. Periodically
reviewing this brief listing is a beneficial exercise for new and seasoned, competent leaders.

Fundamental Techniques for Handling People:

1. Don’t Criticize, Condemn, or Complain.
2. Give Honest & Sincere Appreciation.
3. Arouse in the Other Person an Eager Want.

How to Make People like you:

4. Become Genuinely Interested in Other People.
5. Smile.
6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in
any language.
7. Be a Good Listener.
8. Talk in Terms of Other People’s Interests.
9. Make the Person Feel Important; and do it sincerely.

How to Win People to your Way of Thinking:

10. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it
11. Show respect for the other person’s opinions.
12. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
13. Begin in a Friendly way.
14. Get the other person saying, .Yes, Yes. Immediately.
15. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
16. Let the person feel that the idea is his or hers.
17. Try to see things from the other person’s point of view.
18. Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
19. Appeal to the Nobler Motives.
20. Dramatize your Ideas.
21. Throw Down a Challenge.

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How to Change People without Arousing Resentment:
22. Begin with Praise and Honest Appreciation.
23. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
24. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing people.
25. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
26. Let the other person save face.
27. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in approbation
and lavish in your praise.”
28. Give the other person a Fine Reputation to live up to.
29. Use Encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
30. Make the person happy about doing what you suggest.

Bottom Line
Becoming an effective and inspiring leader requires constant diligence. Focusing on people and
opportunities, rather than systems and processes, is the key differentiator between a strong
leader and a devoted “manager.”

While processes are certainly critical for every business, rigid thinking about policy and procedure
leads to stagnation and demoralized staff. A business needs to view its inner workings as an
organic process where creativity and change invoke efficiencies.

If you are in a leadership position, or are charged with developing new leaders, be sure to pay
attention to the essential leadership qualities and styles. Challenge yourself to select one quality
or style to improve upon each month and ask a close colleague for feedback.

Finally, remember to review the Dale Carnegie leadership principles for winning friends and influ-
encing people. Remembering to apply these 30 best practices is guaranteed to improve your
ability to facilitate change in any organization.

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