The Five Practices of Leadership
Leaders aren’t mommy or daddy.
Successful leaders encourage everyone to think and act like competent people of influence.
When leaders act like mommy, team members act like children.
Family-style leadership, depending on it’s expression, is awesome. But, when family-style leadership means depending on mommy to solve our problems, power shifts upward and dependency increases.
Act more like the weird uncle who lets kids steer the car when no one is looking.
Who’s their daddy? You aren’t!
The five practices of leadership:
People of influence knowingly engage in the five practices of leadership described in, “The Leadership Challenge.”
- Model the way.
- Inspire shared vision.
- Challenge the process.
- Enable others to act.
- Encourage the heart.
#1. Model the way:
- Know your values.
- Affirm the values of others.
- Model the way by aligning actions with shared values.
Join in and get your hands dirty. Don’t be willing to help; actually help.
#2. Inspire shared vision:
“You can’t command commitment; you have to inspire it. You have to enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.” James Kouzes and Barry Posner
#3. Challenge the process:
Every step toward remarkable requires courage to challenge the status quo.
- Invite the outside in.
- Design and celebrate small wins.
- Adapt as you go.
#4. Enable others to act:
Fear solidifies mediocrity.
- Give power. Seizing control disempowers.
- Choose the best way, not your way. Their imperfect idea is more empowering than imposing your “perfect” idea.
- Build trusting relationships.
- Develop capacity in others.
#5. Encourage the heart:
Work that goes unnoticed feels like it doesn’t matter.
- Reward progress.
- Honor effort, even if results fall short.
- Show people where they fit in and what their contribution means.
The purpose of encouragement is bold action, anything less is coddling.
Which of the five practices are most important to you right now?
How can you encourage others to think and act like competent people of influence?
*This post is inspired by, “The Leadership Challenge,” by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. I highly recommend their work.
Enable others to act…because it demands sharing responsibility with others. I should empower them to think out loud and be honest with me, so that their influence is also seen by me and themselves. Sharing responsibilities are important I believe in order to empower them and make them act on the task and show them their influence!
Thanks Dennis. The more I read your comments, the more I appreciate your experience.
“Empower them to … be honest with me.” … boy that’s great and it’s really about my behaviors and responses.
I appreciate that what you say here Dan. You enpower me.
Mine is encouraging others to act but I also have to include myself in that. Leader also needs to take action and more out of the theoretical realm.
Thanks Rowena.
Looks like two votes for Encouraging others to act.
So, we might model the way by being people who take action. 🙂 Thanks again!
Enable others to act. I have a bit of OCD so it is difficult at times, but I know how important it is and make a conscious effort to do this. Geat post as usual!
Thanks Sarah.
Wow! Three votes in a row for Enable others to act. One of the things that helps us take action is planning to stop in the near future to assess and adjust. We don’t have to be perfect at the beginning. I feel your pain. 🙂
I take all five seriously and apply them judiciously everyday in my leadership journey, Dan. Choosing anyone to be more important than the other undermines your leadership significantly 🙂
Thanks Albert. Great observation. These five practices definitely build on each other.
Enabling others to act is up there for me, but if I had to pick one, righ now, I’d have to say #3, Challenge the Process. In my field, the process has become so ineffective that “status quo” is desirable to many. Inviting ideas from outside the organization, and adapting to change are two major challenges for people in my field, so consequently, they have become essentail for an organization’s survival.
Thanks Tiffany. You’re focused on the most dangerous of the five leadership practices. I think all the other qualities become more important with challenging the process takes priority. Best wishes.
Love all 5, they are integrated. But my fav is Inspire a Shared Vision. Without that the collective we go in circles. Futuristic is also one of my Gallup assessed strengths, no doubt contributing to my inspired vision. Thanks Dan!
Thanks Bob! If you are going to go somewhere, it helps to have an idea where. 🙂 Wheeling spinning drives leaders crazy. 🙂
For me it is #2 Inspiring Shared Vision. I’m always most conscious about the team having a common vision, because there is no greater sight than a team of unique individuals united passionately behind succeeding at a common cause 🙂
And before I go, I love the quote “When leaders act like mommy, team members act like children.” I might use that some time.
Thanks for a great post!!
Thanks Jason. It so true. A group of people pulling on the same rope and in the same direction is a thing of beauty.
Glad you enjoyed the quote. Be careful where you say it. 🙂
Good morning Dan;
The last few blogs make one thing very very clear, Character-Based Leadership is all about putting people first.Effective leadership is about inspiring your people to action by the daily work ethic ‘you’ exhibit. It’s about creating an atmosphere where people want to contribute, where volunteerism is high, (& not just when the Boss is around), effective leadership produces problem solvers as well.
When you consider the consistent positive effect this style of leadership has on people creating harmony within their organizations, it cause us to ask, “how & why is power/authority driven leadership tolerated, and why does it still exist”? You just can’t scare people into doing their best. Yelling & screaming, using vulgar threatening or abusive language produces employees who do exactly what is required of them, no more, ‘sometimes less’, (WHEN THE BOSS IS AROUND). When he’s not, you get lackluster effort at best.
Seems like a ‘NO-Brainer’ to me Dan. Apparently the lure of Power & Authority that dominates is still “alive and well”.
I choose ‘People -First’, Character-Based Leadership…
Cheers Dan
Steve
DITO PAUL…
Thanks
Steve
Thanks SGT. Love your passion for character-based leadership. It’s who before what!
You suggestion that authoritarian styles of leadership centers on power makes a lot of sense. When leaders put others at the center it means the leader isn’t at the center. It takes humility to vote yourself out of power and others into it.
Inspire Shared Vision is my favorite… “You can’t command commitment; you have to inspire it.”
Thanks Paul!
Enabling others to ACT – as opposed to just enabling others – is key. We (as leaders – or even parents) tend to rush in and become the fixers or the problem solvers and then are surprised when we suddenly have all the decisions to make and wonder why others don’t step up. We only have ourselves to blame because we conditioned them to respond that way!
KaPow! Thanks Vicki. When we look around and wonder why others don’t step up, we have to first look at ourselves. What are we doing to either encourage or discourage the behaviors we desire from others.
I’m learning to love this way of leading. Its like a good golf grip, at first it’s uncomfortable and awkward but once you see the results you go back to the grip again and again. Theres a great book out that shows how’s this type of leadership gets results. “Turn the Ship Around!” By David Marquet.
Thanks Calvin. You analogy is helpful. Get a grip on leadership. 🙂
# 2 is mine as it’s not easy for me to do this, so I have to practice.
Thanks Sandra. Practice makes better… 🙂
I would add that to be a leader’s leader, you need to model the way by demonstrating the five practices of leadership every day.
Thanks Donna. That’s one way to get them all in. 🙂
As a leader I would love to be able to reward my people. It’s incredibly hurtful to see them delivering and not be able to give them anything beyond a thank you. Often, the only reward I can offer is a glowing reference when they go to work for someone else!
Thanks Mitch. Well at least you’re saying thank you. Some people don’t even get a thank you. 🙂
My earlier post was referencing enabling others to act.
Got it. Thanks
Like Albert, I find it difficult to choose one over the other, as it relates to what I am doing or focusing on at the moment. Each are important for me as a leader and because I work a lot with leaders, I believe that the focus on an single practice depends on where the leader/client has indicated they are and/or would like to improve or through what I have observed and can bring into our client-coach relationship. Thank Dan, as always, for your great posts.
Thanks Cory. The situation we are in determines the applicability of the behaviors that matter most. Good call.
In my job (improving teaching and learning) I try to always inspire a shared vision. I am new to leadership and sometimes this can be difficult to do without sounding like a “dreamer” or someone who is removed from reality. Obviously, being perceptive to this is important for a leader to keep their feet on the ground.
I’d love anybody’s advice.
Great points. I remember a manager I had once that said “I am not your *&X))*** nanny”. Your comments remind of what he was really saying about his leadership. A tough, but lasting lesson.
“Don’t be willing to help; actually help.”
Ouch! I struggle with overcoming my reluctance to jump in and get hands-on when a team stumbles while implementing a new process or technique. I’m always “willing,” but often I wait and let them try and work it out themselves or ask for help -sometimes longer than I should, in retrospect- before I “actually help.”
Thanks! I’m a big fan of “The Leadership Challenge,” but haven’t re-read it in a few years.
Best regards!
Manuel, Thank you for this question. I’d be happy to hear from you directly via email and we can exchange some ideas. I’m at jim@kouzes.com.
We are using The Leadership Challenge book in a Business Class that I am taking. Do you have any insight on how these 5 practices match up to how Army leadership is taught? I transitioned from the Army upon retirement after 27 years in 2010.
Thank you all for your gracious and engaging comments about Dan’s piece on The Five Practices. I really appreciate learning which of the Five are most important to you and why. Barry and I are going to start working on the 6th edition of The Leadership Challenge later this year, and your reflections really helps us in our writing. Wishing everyone a joyous 2015.
Great post Dan. As luck would have it I just recently reviewed Jim and Barry’s work and referenced it in some work I’m doing. I took and learned a tremendous amount from the LPI lo these many years. It had a big impact on my leadership style. I learned from my team’s feedback that I was doing pretty well with 3 of the practices and that I needed to do a better job of articulating my vision, and of celebrating achievements and contributions. Jim and Barry you guys don’t know me, but I owe you a lot for what you contributed to my personal and professional growth. I now am in the midst of reading and enjoying the Leadership Challenge, Fifth Ed.
Nancy, Thank you so much for your comment. You really did make my day! We deeply appreciate your thoughtfulness; I’m personally very moved and humbled. You certainly Encouraged Our Hearts!
Jim, smiling here. I can certainly use plenty of encouragement for my heart and you just gave me a big helping of it! I think you just Modeled the Way, too.
Great book! One of my top five picks. I’m going through it again.
Jay, Thank you for picking The Leadership Challenge as one of your top five books. That really does mean a lot.
As I entertain thoughts of retirement I am finding TLC Ed5 a great source of inspiration in shaping what I plan to do with the rest of my life. I have not had the slightest inclination to turn to any other reference as it contains all the guidance one could wish for. As I go about delivering my motivational and leadership sustainment programs I plan to equip all my young participants with a copy of TLC; knowing that I would be better for it if I had obtained Ed1 all those years ago. Best Regards Raymond @mycaski
Thanks Raymond. Powerful!