I’m reading a book called “The Leadership Code” written by David Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Kate Sweetman. The book can be summed up in the following five rules:
1. Shape the future. This means a leader must be a strategist first and foremost. There must be a common objective and everyone must know it and embrace it.
2. Make things happen. Once a clear direction is in place, the leader must execute. To do this, there should be a clear “decision protocol” and direct accountability.
3. Engage today’s talent. Being an effective talent manager means creating a positive work environment by communicating and being directly engaged in the work.
4. Build the next generation. This means that the leader must be a good mentor and be able to find and develop “next generation” talent.
5. Invest in yourself. Unless the leader makes sure he or she is leading a balanced life, looking for new areas of learning, and developing new stretch goals, the ability to be effective in the other four areas will be overtly compromised.
I think these are good rules to consider and, although they sound rather simplistic, they are very comprehensive and could easily serve as one’s complete guide to effective business leadership.
Jay Mattern
COO, Peoplelink Staffing Solutions
