Business Tools Blog

My last 2 posts were about leadership.  This post is more practical.

I wish I could remember where I first learned this concept.  I think I read a white paper that talked about the behavior patterns of successful leaders.  There was a fancy study and lots of data.  (I remember seeing colorful pie charts)

The take away was simple.  Whether the successful leader was in sports, politics, business or military, their behavior and speech  follow a simple pattern:

• Organization - First
• Teammates - Second
• Me - Third

Example, Lee Iacocca turned around the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s.  When Iacocca joined Chrysler they were on the brink of bankruptcy.  To stop the bleeding, he had to take deep cost cutting measures.  He started by cutting his own salary to $1 a year.  He put the organization first, his team second and himself third.  Within 5 years Chrysler was profitable and Iacocca was given credit for the success.

Example, Pete Rose is the all-time Major League leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at bats (14,053), and outs (10,328). But Pete Rose is not in the hall of fame.  Why?  Because, he gambled on Reds games, he put himself first, his teammates second and the Cincinnati Reds organization third.

Example, Andrew Fastow, former CFO of Enron led the team which created off-books companies that created hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed revenue for his friends and family.  Why is he the most despised CFO in history?  Because he put himself first and destroyed value for his team and the Enron Organization.

The next time you are inspired by a leader, think about whether the leader was putting the organization first, teammates second and himself/herself third.  The next time you are bothered by how a leader is behaving, you can probably identify where the order is out of synch.

You don’t have to be a senior manager to be a leader … you just have to lead.