Jan 26 2009
If There Are Any Strong Leaders Out There, Please Step Forward Immediately
If ever there was a time for true leaders to stand up and be counted, surely it is now.
In my view, we are in this predicament because of a combination of weak and corrupt leadership, but you know, there must be almost as many theories on leadership as there are leaders themselves and models for the best kind of leadership change with the times.
In the 15th century, Niccolo Machiavelli advocated a combination of cunning and intimidation as a way to more effective leadership. His philosophy, if not his practices, became unfashionable some time ago.
“Great Man” theories, popular in the 19th century and early this century, are based on the notion of the ‘born leader’ who has innate talents that cannot be taught.
An alternative approach that is still in vogue is based on trying to identify the key traits of effective leaders. Behaviourist theory prefers to see leadership in terms of what leaders do rather than their individual characteristics, and it tries to identify the different roles they fulfil. More recently, attention has moved away from the individual in the leadership role to embrace a more holistic view and investing less in what some commentators refer to as the ‘myth of the heroic leader’.
Requirements of a Leader:
It is my view that an effective leader needs to be:
• A good diagnostician, who can sense and appreciate differences in people and situations.
• Adaptable, in the ability to adapt the leadership style to circumstances.
A leader must realise there is no one best way to influence people.
In summary, to those who would suggest that great leaders are born not made, I would say this: We can examine all of the great leaders in history and identify some common characteristics but we cannot say they were “Born Leaders.” They all developed into their leadership roles over a period of time, learning the skills along the way. I do believe that leaders can be developed – I have to believe that because currently we have far too few of them in the world.
Today’s News: Fellow Top Sales Expert, Dave Brock published a great post last week: “Why Do Salespeople Have Such A Bad Reputation?” It was picked up by The Customer Collective and got more than three hundred and fifty views – plus it attracted a lot of comments. It also attracted the attention of this week’s “Horse’s Ass” – a guy called Axel Schultze.
Two other sales gurus who I both like and respect – Dave Stein and Niall Devitt weighed in and you will enjoy reading all the comments here
SalesNexus launch their FREE five part “Double Your Sales In 2009″ series today – just click on the banner below to register
Tomorrow: By pure coincidence, my guest on The JF Guest Author Spot is Craig Klein, CEO at SalesNexus – “Simple steps to identifying prospects that will buy“
Hi Jonathan,
Great Post.
I think you truly identified Axel area of expertise lol.
Thanks for your support.
Niall
I didn’t plan to continue the conversation but after seeing your advertising “Double your sales in 2009″ I just couldn’t resist.
Such a classic… If you indeed believe you can make any decent company double their revenue in 2009 – oh well. And if instead you think – well that’s the normal BS we all tell our customer every day… needless to add anything to it.
In case you care, I actually put up a) why the old sales guard is due for replacement and b) what the new generation can do to fix the damage the current generation created.
http://xeeurl.com/A0232
Axel,
“Such a classic… If you indeed believe you can make any decent company double their revenue in 2009 – oh well. And if instead you think – well that’s the normal BS we all tell our customer every day… needless to add anything to it.”
Erm!! Not my claim – merely helping to promote a friend’s new ebook series.
I am responding to your private email now which I received a few moments ago.
Best
JF
Jonathan,
Your frustration is well-founded. The “born or made” argument goes back decades and will go on forever. There are enough valid examples to prove just about any point someone wants to make. But it’s the wrong question.
Your ‘adabtable diagnostician’ points to the right question. Leaders, especially sales leaders, should be viewed in terms of the sales results their teams produce. Accurately diagnosing what various team members need and then adapting to those needs are certainly two keys.
Some other keys of effective sales leadership:
– discerning which of their team members is excelling at which accomplishment that contributes to sales success
– learn how those A performers do what they do
– help others learn to those same things
Whether leaders are born to produce excellent results, or learn to do it over time doesn’t really matter. What really matters is getting more leaders at the head of sales organizations who can produce the results needed in 2009.
Best
Greg
http://www.theabcsofleadership.com