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Leadership in many ways is like beauty. It’s hard to define but you know it when you see it. That is what Warren Bennis, the great educator, said in his 1989 book On Becoming a Leader, which was revised and republished in 2003.

It is necessary in life to become a “master of context,” which is an explanation of expertise. This is something that every employee brings to their jobs. That is why we discussed “what we need to do” to keep customers happy and asked our employees how we can do it in our column last month.

The problem today is that the situations are ever more complicated and difficult to deal with in our jobs and our lives. The current and recent economic woes have certainly not made it any easier.

If there was any doubt to these truths, all we need to do is consider the Internet. The advent of YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter have truly changed the world again to another level of transparency and a much broader community of opinions.

This is the world in which our employees are starting to feel a bit better about their lot in life. The economy is seemingly picking up. The unemployment situation seems to be getting better. However, we need to understand and make up our own minds rather than simply become followers. That is why leadership is becoming more and more important.

Intellectual Capital

The time when buildings and equipment were a measure of the value of a business is long gone. It is the intellectual capital of the employees that today is the true measure of a company’s value. But that requires enlightened management and supervision in a business—the leadership.

As with any previous economic slowdown or adjustment, there is a period during which the employees hunker down and are grateful to have a job. But that changes, and when it does, leaders who want their businesses to succeed have to provide leadership in the form of rewards, career paths and professional development, and perks.

But how does one go about becoming a leader? Who trains you to become one? Well, there are no clear paths to leadership and no curriculum that provides direct education on leadership. It starts with character and ethics, two words that reflect who you are and not what you are. I am reminded here about the definition of morality, which is what you do when no one else is looking.

Leadership also creates a culture for the company. Culture is what it is, not what we might want it to be. The culture of a company should start with candor and honesty, a tone which the leader creates. The truth is protected and valued no matter how difficult it might be.

Working as a Team

Long-time college football coach Lou Holtz is renowned for not just his coaching and leadership characteristics, but also his charismatic speaking engagements where he exposes his basic beliefs. They include: Do what is right and avoid what is wrong. Do your best. Honor the Golden Rule.

I would like to add a corollary to the “do your best” part that states you must know what to do first.

Holtz goes on and gives us three questions. Can I trust you? Do you care about me? Are you committed to excellence? Answering all three reflects character and integrity.

To follow along Holtz’s line, I believe leadership is more important than ever today as we are now finally working together as teams. In productive teams, it is not always the same people who are the stars. It is people’s shared responsibility.

It also means that we are all accountable for our own activities and results, as well as those of the team. This shows us that leaders must be good coaches and must cultivate a can-do attitude. Leaders must be good judges of talent. Leaders must be able to mediate conflict and have that magical ability to bring out the best in others. Quite a responsibility, isn’t it?

Let’s review this leadership function and characteristics. Leaders need to do the following:

• Create a shared vision—one which each team member makes their own.
• Have a voice, an aura, a purpose, a self-confidence that we now call “emotional intelligence.”
• Have integrity, character, and a strong moral compass—not a religion but a belief.
• Be adaptive—nothing is ever set in concrete, leaders adapt to the situation at hand.

Arnold Toynbee, the great historian, is known for his famous quotation, “Nothing fails like success.” This is the trap of way too many people, let alone leaders. We become blinded by our successes. We want to continue methods and processes that work and have succeeded.

But sooner or later, that becomes a trap. Good becomes the enemy of great. You have to give up good to become great. That’s counterintuitive, but it’s true.

Leadership has always been critical. I believe that today more than ever it is essential. The world is too complicated, technologies are too far reaching, and customers today have more choices than ever before.

It is our employees who make a difference for our customers. It is the leaders who make a difference for our employees.