Out in Front

W. Edwards Deming believed that many people view leadership as the result of specific traits or a persona that, if possessed, predestines an individual to a position of prominence. Others believe it’s all about tough-mindedness—the ability to gain control through force of will. But neither is true, and this verdict is supported by years of scholarly research.

Leaders can be found at all organizational levels and can rally people to a cause because their skills and abilities match a particular set of follower needs and situational circumstances. These are competencies that can be learned and practiced by anyone with the motivation to step forward.

Leadership and profound knowledge
Many individuals have an ostentatious vision of leadership, which may have much to do with the grandiose behaviors sometimes displayed by visible and important people. The following fictional story about a spellbinding personality demonstrates this popularized point of view:

Gertrud Grossmund was the president of a historically acclaimed college. The Ph.D. was well spoken and recognized by the community at large as a forward-thinking individual who had introduced strategic planning and consensus management at the college. To the faculty and staff, however, she was viewed as a flamboyant self-promoter and a wheeler-dealer who was a masterful talker.

Articulate and savvy, Grossmund could present a convincing image. When board positions opened for appointment, for example, she used her reputation and influence in the community to seat people who, captivated by her self-assurance and persuasive manner, were affable to her many and far-reaching ideas.

Upon arriving at the college five years earlier, she set out to replace executive-level deans with new executive-level vice presidents. The realigned positions included financial services, administrative services, student services, instructional services, information services and HR.

All of the new arrivals were capable individuals who were friendly and generally well-liked by their staffs, yet each was no match in stature—eloquence or demeanor—to Grossmund. These people were diligent but unusually quiet and unassuming. They acted at Grossmund’s behest but never stepped forward with their own ideas. She seemed to have had a knack for picking introverts who went out of their way to avoid controversy.

Grossmund would hold monthly open meetings—she called them forums—with students. When confronted with difficult issues, she would wholeheartedly agree with them but counter with plausible explanations. Speaking brilliantly and in a measured directive tone, she would offer solutions the crowd found appealing and compelling. Many would nod their heads in agreement, yet when all was said and done, students left questioning the exact sequence of reasoning and the logic that had won them over.

This ability to sell ideas and convince others that everything was hunky-dory was used on staff and faculty alike. In the end, individuals often wondered what they had agreed to.

As time went on, of course, people began to realize many issues were left to fester, and grand ideas never came to fruition. Although there were yearly reorganizations with departments being shuffled and reshuffled, and deans or department chairs being promoted or reassigned, opportunities were missed and enrollments did not grow in proportion to other schools within the state system.

In the end, after one too many sabbaticals, community pressure and a loss-of-confidence declaration by faculty, the board asked for her resignation.

What makes a leader?

Real leaders create opportunities, express value for people primarily for their talent and ability to contribute, and meet with people to explore ideas and find solutions. They do not dominate the discussion. They are not afraid to advance new ideas and make a case for their realization. People are drawn to individuals who appear strong, deliberate and willing to take control. Why is style and flare such a compelling lure?

We live in a complex world in which many institutions have difficulty sustaining a meaningful and coherent existence over an extended period. Some organizations seem to function well for a while but falter as competitive and economic pressures expose vulnerabilities. News stories document the many of these business and government failures.

Some individuals believe organizations have become too large and leaders are not in touch with public needs. Disgruntled interest groups demand results, while the disenfranchised raise questions about fair and ethical conduct, and wonder what can be done. They cling to the hope that big ideas accompanied by swagger and bravado will get them to a promised land.

Leadership is a topic that has received considerable attention. Libraries catalog and shelve numerous titles devoted to its practice. Similarly, leadership has a variety of meanings. Here are a few examples:

- Leadership is the pivotal force behind successful organizations. To create vital and viable ones, leadership is necessary to help them develop a new vision of what they can be and to mobilize the organizations’ ability to change toward the new vision.

- Leading is the central part of a manager’s role, which involves working with and through others to achieve organizational goals.

• The leader’s job is to accomplish the transformation of his or her organization. He or she possesses knowledge, personality and persuasive power.
• Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision and inspires them to make it happen despite obstacles.
• Leadership is the presence and spirit of the individual who leads, and the relationship created with those who are led.

What can you conclude about leadership after considering these statements? For most current thinkers, there are two assumptions:

• Leaders make things happen.They don’t do it by themselves.
• Through training, experience or personal aptitude, leaders can get others to achieve results deemed desirable by the leader and followers. Working together, they can alter common circumstances and achieve advantageous results.

A new system of leadership

For centuries, leaders have been rallying people to greater accomplishment to win wars, build empires and, of course, complete the mundane rigors of day-to-day work. It seems the world has produced leaders sufficient to match almost every challenge. Certainly, enough has been written on the topic. Anyone interested in becoming a leader can—through effort—promote him or herself by applying what is already known.

Then why is a new system of leadership needed? Because—as many now realize—recent circumstances have produced too many failures in finance, industry and politics. The consequences have been economically devastating, with losses in every sector: bank closures, a collapsing construction industry, a struggling auto industry still in recovery, jobs and whole industrial segments leaving the United States, and an economy in deep recession.

The institutions individuals have looked to for leadership have not facilitated improvement or a better society. Stewardship responsible for this tragedy has been close to criminal, with bottom-line schemes that focused on short-term gain and self-serving, pocket-stuffing behavior.

Something can be done, but it will take leadership—not the traditional kind, but profound leadership. This new, different type of leadership is transformational and holds a core set of principles that produces benefits for all stakeholders, not just a privileged few.

Deming’s system of profound knowledge provides a different viewpoint on leadership. Its ideas and underlying principles were first shaped by the economic downturn in the 1980s—a period when the quality of U.S. products reached rock bottom and the demand for foreign goods steadily increased while domestic manufacturing slowly declined. This was the first of many subsequent crises—boom and bust cycles—in which business and political leadership ignored the lessons and costs of past mistakes.

The system of profound knowledge is a theory of related principles that requires a leader or manager to consider all organizational aspects when making decisions. This means recognizing how processes are interconnected and how they function as a whole within the larger environment so the organization can reach intended expectations. At its foundation, this system of leadership includes four parts:

 1. Appreciation for the system. The ability to understand the relationship among system components—suppliers, producers and customers—and how they contribute to the overall good of the organization, its stakeholders and adjoining environment.

2. Knowledge about variation. The ability to recognize that two data points do not make a trend and all systems vary over time, sometimes positively and negatively. The information produced, however, can provide guidance about what is normal and when to take action.

3. Theory of knowledge. The ability to understand how people learn and how to advance their ability to make decisions, improve work processes and contribute to the organization’s common good.

4. Knowledge of psychology. The ability to recognize why people behave as they do and create an environment—not one based on slogans, quotes, incentives or exhortations—in which individual differences and skills are used to optimize the system for everyone’s benefit.

As a catalyst for leadership, however, these four elements cannot be separated and applied individually. All elements interact with one another to create a comprehensive strategy for leading others and managing individual behavior. Deming framed the benefits this way:

"Once the individual understands the system of profound knowledge, he will apply its principles to every kind of relationship with other people. He will have a basis for judgment of his own decisions and for the transformation of the organization that he belongs to. The individual, once transformed, will:

Set an example.

• Be a good listener, but will not compromise.
• Continually teach other people.
• Help people to pull away from their current practice and beliefs, and move into the new philosophy without feeling guilty about the past."

As a side note, although Deming often used the pronoun "he," leadership is gender-neutral. Leaders can come from any walk of life and often step up under what some would consider humdrum conditions. It is the result of an individual’s stewardship, however, that determine the leader’s stature and ability to govern.

Leadership competencies

Leadership is a topic many people have difficulty defining. There are multiple and varying points of view. Some focus on the ability to create wealth, while others consider the managerial aspects of planning, organizing, directing and controlling. Still others look for traits and behaviors, such as charisma, that set leaders apart from the managerial crowd.

Regardless of how leadership is defined, there are interpersonal influences that do get people to subordinate as followers. In general, successful leaders exhibit the following characteristics:

• Influence. Leaders can fashion a vision that has current and future relevance, and communicate the vision in terms others readily accept as their own. People look to leaders for direction that will guide their effort toward a better future.
• Know-how. Leaders can comprehend circumstantial factors, creating processes and structures to enable others to accomplish the vision. People believe leaders have the right knowledge and appropriate skills to get them through a particular situation or to a desired result.
• Standing. Leaders can place themselves in a position in which others are willing to trust and accept direction that will harmonize collective efforts so followers can accomplish the organization’s vision. Either by personal choice or by communal vote, people allow leaders to channel and direct their activities.

Individuals who display these capabilities have developed a skill set that allows them to command when in a leadership position. At its core, the system of profound knowledge has competencies that support the three leadership characteristics. Leadership competencies are the defining skills that drive Deming’s system of profound knowledge9 and thus the expression of leadership characteristics.

The leader’s power—the ability to exert influence and channel individual behaviors and actions—depends on this distinct skill set and its able execution. The skills that typify a capable and profoundly effective leader include:

• Articulates a compelling future. The leader can define and communicate the organization’s principle purpose.
• Focuses on the long term. The leader can create a map that focuses attention on the organization’s long-term survival.
• Centers diverse efforts so the whole system benefits. The leader can manage the organization as a system by eliminating barriers between component parts so people can work as a team for the common good.
• Provides for enabling structures. The leader can facilitate the development of an infrastructure that accommodates the diverse nature of human behavior and coordinates individual activities so actions align with long-term and short-term goals.
• Appreciates the impact of variation. The leader can recognize the inherent variability of organizational influences and activities, distinguish what is normal and understand the type of action to respond to each condition. Leadership is based on the use of data to make decisions.
• Facilitates individual development. The leader can provide resources for the development of individual capabilities by increasing access to information and learning so people can solve problems, make decisions and contribute to the organization’s well-being.
• Arouses behaviors and actions that contribute to the common good. The leader can use positive reinforcement and intrinsic rewards to inspire actions that achieve outcomes aligned with the group’s efforts and the organization’s overall purpose.
• Displays personal credibility. The leader can establish a sense of personal credibility that sets an example by displaying personal ethics, managing emotions and taking responsibility for the results of individual and subordinate actions.

The ability to apply these skills, of course, depends on situational and emotional factors, the group’s needs and circumstances, and the individual leader’s capability and good judgment. Regardless, leadership is an important aspect in organizational success or failure, and can be found in formal and informal settings, and at all organizational levels.

Leadership implications
What does all of this mean? What are lessons learned or conclusions drawn?

1. Leadership is not an inherent intuitive quality that some individuals have and others don’t.
2. A leader’s job is complex, but the ideas that define and shape the leadership function can be identified and consequently incorporated as your own.
3. Leadership is competency based. The skills can be taught and learned.
4. Leadership is like any other ability. Proficiency is gained through coaching by teachers and mentors, and through experience in a variety of work settings.
5. Leadership behaviors must be adaptive, flexible and proficient enough to meet the situational needs of followers.
6. Leadership can be found at every organizational level. The role can be formal (officially selected) or informal (follower appointed).

Anyone with sufficient ambition, mental discipline and emotional maturity has the potential to become a leader.
Leadership based on the principles and competencies found in Deming’s system of profound knowledge is transformative and will make any organization more competitive and a place at which people are proud to work.

Successful organizations have one major element that sets them apart from unsuccessful ones: They have leadership that is forward looking, adaptive to changing conditions and concerned with the cultural processes that make it possible for the workforce to meet organizational goals and expectations.

The system of profound knowledge contains transformative principles that, when applied to leadership, provides a basis for solid judgment and decision making. Leaders are people who think change is needed and can unify others to make it happen.

Reference: Quality Progress