A VICE-ADMIRAL'S 3 LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES

Not a stranger to getting things done through people, John Ryan, a retired vice-admiral and head of his own leadership research and education organization called Center for Creative Leadership, believes that effective leadership has three basic elements.

For over 40 years, John worked for and learned leadership ability from superb leaders.  From the young instructors who taught him how to fly airplanes

John Ryan

in the U.S. Navy to the very smart group of corporate chief executive officers he mingled with, he observed that these talented people differed in many aspects but are similar in three fundamental ways. 

Some are charismatic and some are low key.  Some came from poor backgrounds and some grew up wealthy.  Some are natural leaders while some have to work hard to develop their abilities.

What makes these men and women share “3 critically-important leadership skills”?

1. Leadership success starts with a vision
Ryan wrote in Forbes that leadership success always starts with a vision. Henry Ford dreamed of a mass-produced, low-priced car for everybody. Steve Jobs dreamed of a computer that would change the way we work and play. Nelson Mandela dreamed of a united and prosperous South Africa.

At first people did not believe these visionaries but their dreams were deep-seated passions magnetic enough to capture the hearts and minds of a few devoted followers and ultimately, the imaginations of millions of people all over the world.

A compelling vision is powerful enough to inspire, clarify and focus the work of individuals and ideally of entire organizations over time.  When embarking on any undertaking, aspiring leaders need to take a hard look at their vision of success, Ryan emphasized. One need to ask why he or she is doing it.  Whether one is launching a new product or doing volunteer work as a community leader, his vision of what he sees in the future should be crystal clear.  

A pilot during his 35-year career in the Navy, Ryan also served as Chancellor of the State University of New York and superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy.  He said that “one’s vision need not be as grandiose as Mandela’s”.  Just pick something that matters to one’s aspirations.  It could be  starting a business, adopting new technology or improving customer service.  

He cautioned though that “even an incredibly compelling vision won’t do much good if it remains only in your head”.

This brings us to the second key ingredient:  communication.   

2. Excellent communication skills
As busy as we are, we always have a tendency to keep our thoughts to ourselves, because of the million and one details that we need to address each day of our existence.  We feel that there is no more time for chat with people we work with and who can help us reach our vision.

Yet, half of the fight is in the summoning of the discipline in us and sparing time to share strategies with our staff or talk directly with our clients.  We need to communicate what we want to happen and how we want it to happen.  Then listen to what they have to say. 

When strategic information needs to be communicated, sending out a memo or giving a speech is not enough. A feedback mechanism should be put in place to receive and answer questions, comments or suggestions.  Don’t leave anything to chance to avoid wondering why your customers don’t like your product or why people in the organization do not understand the new strategy.

Along this vein, the importance of communicating what you want done to the troops has been clearly demonstrated by the remarkable achievements of Procter and Gamble CEO A. G. Lafley who retired in 2010 but rejoined the company in 2013.  The core of his message:  “The Consumer is Boss”.

In his nearly ten years of being at the top, he relentlessly communicated to everyone this mantra and led by example for everyone in the organization to follow.  He holds regular meetings with buyers of P&G products, one of his top priorities.  He even visits them at home or join them for shopping trips to hear what they have to say, and he does so all over the world. He does the same with his employees, visiting them in their offices and listening to their ideas. 

3. Superior judgement
The third important ingredient of effective leadership is judgement.  To be an effective leader, you need to make the right call consistently on the big choices involving strategy and talent. To make the right judgement calls though, you need to have the right values that should be rooted in your character.

Ryan says that “good strategy judgment frequently means a leader must find a new path when his organization is heading in the wrong direction. How well you can do this depends on your ability to scan the horizon and ask the right questions.”

This is how Ann Mulcahy approached the situation when she became CEO of Xerox at the time when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.   She executed a phenomenal turn-around of the company by exercising good judgement. 

She surrounded herself with good people and asked for their commitment. Then she laid down to them her strategic plan and rallied for their cooperation.   

Like Mulcahy, the effectiveness of a leader depends on his or her judgement call to pick the right talent and position them in the right places in the organization.  

Well placed, they will see to it that your vision is achieved because you made them feel that the success of the entire organization will depend on their own judgements at their operational levels.