The best way to get someone excited about an idea is to be excited yourself. And to show it.
—Dale Carnegie
While expressing sincere interest in other people is a core talent of leadership mastery, this talent can show itself in many specific ways at any point in your career. To start, there are certain very clear traits by which leadership masters identify themselves and engage others, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re waiting in an outer office for a job interview or sitting behind a desk in an executive suite. These qualities are optimism, cheerfulness, creativity, and the ability to overcome setbacks. We’ll look at these qualities one by one during the rest of this chapter, and we’ll offer suggestions for making them part of your personal leadership style.
After a sincere interest in others, optimism is the most basic element of leadership talent. This is hardly a new insight, and in fact it was the subject of a bestselling book by the psychologist Martin Seligman. In his book Learned Optimism, Seligman showed that a high percentage of successful individuals shared one key characteristic: the belief that things would turn out well. This was more important than education, business connections, or financial resources. Interestingly, it was even more important than being right. Pessimists may be correct at times in thinking that endeavors will end badly, but that accuracy about the future only steers them toward inactivity in the present.
Optimists on the other hand refuse to take no for an answer. They bounce back. When things go wrong they don’t believe that they do because this is how the universe is constructed. Instead they see it as a temporary glitch. Optimism was hard to come by in the early ’80s, when Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman were beginning work on their book In Search of Excellence. American business was taking a beating from competition around the world and it was a general perception that perhaps our best days were behind us.
For Peters and Waterman, however, this was a golden opportunity to take advantage of the power of optimism. Plenty of writers and journalists were busy telling us how bad things were. In Search of Excellence, however, focused on what we were doing right. The authors sought out the most successful American companies in a variety of industries and carefully documented the steps those companies followed toward success. As it turned out, the publisher of In Search of Excellence was less optimistic than either the book’s subjects or its authors. The first printing would be only 10,000 copies, so small that it would justify little advertising or promotion by the publisher.
Yet Peters and Waterman were optimists about their book and they also showed real leadership mastery in the solution they found for this problem. If only 10,000 books were going to be printed, the authors decided that they would just have to make 15,000 Xerox copies of the manuscript and give them away. That’s exactly what happened, despite the strenuous objections of the publisher.
The book ended up becoming one of the best-selling business books of all time. Of course, this was precisely because Peters and Waterman believed in it and were willing to act on their optimistic belief.
An electronics dealer in Milwaukee recalls talking to a colleague who was concerned that a rival business was opening across the street. As they talked, the more experienced man made some interesting points. First, it would take the new dealer at least six months to open his doors. Second, a successful, established business has a tremendous advantage and the first store had been just that for more than ten years. There was a lot of loyalty and goodwill already in place.
So why was the dealer so concerned that the sky was falling? It wasn’t reality-based insight. It was just plain and simple pessimism, and it was a perfect example of someone leading himself in the wrong direction. Leadership masters think, know, and feel that they’re going to get the job. They’re going to receive the promotion. They’re going to close the deal and they’re going to be more successful than last year, but not as successful as they will be next year. Is that the positive approach you bring to every area of your life? If not, please turn some attention to it and be optimistic that your attitude will change.
Cheerfulness is a natural companion of optimism and deserves some discussion in its own right. For reasons that may not be exactly clear, people often associate grave or even sad mannerisms with intelligence. Perhaps they assume that someone who seems serious or concerned must know something we don’t. In any case, the connection between melancholy and wisdom is unfortunate and unproductive, and it is not shared by people in all parts of the world.
In China, for example, happiness is associated with intelligence and tenacity, particularly as people mature. A person who has faced life’s trials and retains the ability to be happy must be a strong person, a survivor, someone qualified to lead. In fact, leadership masters make it their business to communicate cheerfulness to everyone in their personal and professional lives.
The importance of this was made very clear in an encounter between the CEO of a successful insurance company and a manager in his organization. At a private meeting in the office the younger man seemed concerned and even glum. “What’s the trouble?” asked the head of the company. “Is there a problem?” “Well, sir, I’m afraid there is,” said the manager. “Sales figures for this quarter are down, way down.” He looked hesitantly toward the CEO, not at all sure what to expect. To his surprise the man looked perfectly composed and cheerful. “That’s excellent,” he declared. “That’s really excellent, I’m very pleased.” The manager looked puzzled. “But how can it be excellent? I just told you the sales figures are way down and you seem happy about it.” “That’s right, I am happy,” said the CEO. “For one thing I’ve heard this kind of news before and it’s never been more than a temporary problem. As a matter of fact, it usually provides an opportunity for changes that pay off big in the long run. But even more important, it’s a matter of personal discipline for me to always react cheerfully to bad news, even if I can’t find the silver lining in the cloud right at the moment, I know that a good-natured response maximizes my chances of finding it as soon as possible. I know it’s there, and I know it will make me stronger and more successful over time, so what’s not to be happy about?”
Take the example of George, one of the most successful, energetic, and fun-loving executives in America. George has a net worth of more than a billion dollars as CEO and president of a manufacturer of computer components. Shortly after George started his career with the computer manufacturing company, he met with senior-level executives of a huge buyer of computer components. During this meeting, the senior-level executives told George they would never buy components from a start-up organization that had not yet established credibility.
George broke into a big smile. Then he asked about the capabilities of the technology the large company was currently using. Upon hearing the answer, the entrepreneur’s grin grew even wider and he promised that within a year he would return with a component at least ten times more powerful than the one they just described, which is exactly what happened.
Leadership masters are not only prepared to do whatever it takes, they’re happy about doing it and rise to the challenge.
All of us are going to face ups and downs and some of them will be quite severe, but a true leader’s talent is the ability to behave positively, even when things seem to be going wrong. In short, being glum is not a sign of intelligence, and being cheerful in the face of adversity is certainly not an indicator of ignorance. On the contrary, it’s a sign of leadership mastery.
A third aspect of leadership talent is creativity. We can define creativity as the ability to make something of value out of something of lesser value. To go even further, it’s the ability to make something of value out of nothing at all. So if someone is angry and insults you, turning their anger to friendship could be considered a creative act. Animosity between two people is unlikely to produce anything positive, but friends working together can bring about miracles.
A different form of creativity takes place when a dream is turned into a reality, when a thought becomes a tangible object that can benefit yourself or perhaps the world. Perhaps this really is the ultimate creative expression since wishes, thoughts, and dreams are at the foundation of all reality.
Let’s look for a moment at how the creative process manifested itself in one of the true founders of contemporary popular culture. As with any thought or any dream, the origins are difficult to pinpoint either on a map, or a calendar, or within the mind of the dreamer. According to one story, a young artist named Walter E. Disney found a family of mice in his studio and he eventually decided to make them into cartoon characters. Another story tells how Disney was kept awake on an overnight train trip by the creaking of the woodwork in his compartment. It sounded to him like a chorus of mice, and in that second Mickey Mouse came into being. No one really knows the truth, but there is no doubt of one thing. Late in life, after the building of Disneyland and the production of dozens of successful films, Walt Disney liked to remind people that a mouse started it all.
What he really meant, of course, was that it came from the idea of a mouse. And if ever there was a case of nothing turning into something, it was the idea of a mouse turning into a multibillion-dollar business empire. Perhaps even the word talent does not do justice to that phenomenon. It would have to be called genius.
Walt Disney’s life also illuminates a fourth aspect of leadership aptitude. This is resilience, or the capacity to rebound from setbacks and disappointments (or in Disney’s case, flat-out failures). Burdened with huge debts after the failure of his Laugh-O-Gram animation company in Kansas City, Walt Disney moved to California and looked for a job. He couldn’t find one, but he didn’t quit. Instead he started a new film company with his older brother Roy.
Their first two animated films were commercially unsuccessful and Walt Disney even lost the rights to the second one because of a naïve business decision. Then came the family of mice in the studio, and/or the squeaky woodwork on the train. Mickey Mouse came into being, or not quite. Disney originally wanted to name him Mortimer but his wife talked him out of it. So maybe she was the real creator. In any case, Walt Disney created something that led millions of people over several generations to follow where his dreams led. This is leadership mastery of a unique kind, especially since the followers had so much fun. Taking a sincere interest in others, optimism, cheerfulness, creativity, and the ability to transcend disappointment or even failure. These are hallmarks of leadership talent. Learn to recognize them in people. Look for them in yourself, and if you find them lacking, do everything in your power to develop them, starting today.
Effective leaders set the tone for the entire organization. It’s not a matter of knowing more than everyone else. There are plenty of leaders who aren’t the biggest experts in their companies. But it does mean working hard, something anyone can do. Be the first person to arrive at the workplace and be the last one to leave. If you can do that, you’ll already be light years ahead of most managers in the respect you’ll gain from your team members. Apply the same principle to all your routine activities. If you expect your sales force to make 50 calls each day, make 100 calls yourself. It’s not rocket science. It’s just basic “lead by example” management.
No one can really discredit leaders who are the hardest-working individuals in their organizations. And very few people can match their results. Hard work always beats lazy talent, and talented hard work trumps everything. So set your alarm clock. Set it for early.
Often the best way to exercise authority is simply to keep your mouth shut. Many people have the misconception that the smartest guy in the room is the one who does all the talking. Whoever hogs the microphone must be the leader, right? Well, no. The real leader is not the individual who says the most. It’s the person who needs to say the least,
This is especially true in meetings and presentations. When you’re in a leadership position and you want to project an image of confidence and maturity, focus intently on what others are saying but keep silent yourself. Let everyone else run out of gas. Then, when you do speak, your words will carry maximum authority. Instead of rushing into decisions and pronouncements, absorb as much information as possible. It’s amazing how many mistakes you won’t make if you spend more time listening than speaking.
Often finding the best solution to a problem means spending a great deal of time listening to other people’s points of view before forming your own. If you can, have the last word in the meeting after you’ve collected as much information as possible, because it’s an effective way to project leadership.
In everyday conversation, most people can’t wait to share their points of view on a dozen topics—movies, sports, music, food, whatever. But in everyday conversation choosing our words very carefully isn’t too important, and the consequences of being wrong about the outcome of a ball game are very minor. But when you’re in a leadership role in the business world, the ground rules change significantly.
Here’s another common misconception. Sometimes people confuse the relationship between questions and answers. When a leader asks a lot of questions, that doesn’t mean he or she is uncertain or confused. On the contrary, leaders who ask questions do so because they intend to make the best decision possible and they need information to make that happen. The best leaders learn to ask lots of questions to get to the root of problems. They know how to dig. The majority of leadership decisions actually become obvious once a manager gets enough facts about the situation. On the other hand, too many problems go unsolved because the answers seem more obvious than they really are.
For example, if a project is behind schedule and no one seems to know why, don’t just ask, “Who’s responsible for this?” Trace the whole sequence of events. See if there’s a larger problem behind the work not getting done. Many underlying issues are overlooked by managers who are unwilling or unable to ask the deeper questions.
Once you’ve got the required information, act boldly. Effective leaders make confident decisions. Excessive caution is a bad way to enhance the importance of your decision and your authority as a leader.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t ever change your mind. But if you do, be sure to make the changes few and far between and only in the most demanding circumstances. When leaders backtrack, there’s always a ripple effect. Because you’ve questioned your earlier decision, your team members may question your next one too.
Especially if you’re newly promoted or if you’ve just joined a new organization, don’t worry if you sometimes have to pretend you know what you’re doing. Everyone has done that. To a great extent leadership is a trial by fire. Books and classes can certainly help, but true leadership is a skill that’s acquired by experience. It’s a matter of knowing how to communicate well and to project confidence in your own abilities. It takes practice!
Josephine Carnegie, Dale Carnegie’s niece, had come to New York to be Dale Carnegie’s secretary. She was nineteen, had graduated from high school three years previously, and her business experience was a trifle more than zero. She became one of the most proficient secretaries he knew, but in the beginning she was ripe for improvement. One day when he started to criticize her, he said to himself, “Now just a minute, Dale Carnegie, just a minute. You’re twice as old as Josephine. You’ve had ten thousand times as much business experience. How can you possibly expect her to have your viewpoint, your judgment, and your initiative? What were you doing at nineteen? Remember the silly mistakes and blunders you made? Remember the time you did this and that?” After thinking the matter over honestly and impartially, he concluded that Josephine’s batting average at nineteen was better than his had been, and that wasn’t paying Josephine much of a compliment. So after that realization, when he wanted to call Josephine’s attention to a mistake, he’d begin by saying, “You’ve made a mistake, Josephine, but the Lord knows it’s no worse than many I’ve made. You were not born with judgment. That comes only with experience, and you are better than I was at your age. I’ve been guilty of so many stupid, silly things myself. I have very little inclination to criticize you or anyone, but don’t you think it would have been wiser if you had done so and so?” It isn’t nearly so difficult to listen to a recital of your faults if the person criticizing begins by humbly admitting that he too is far from impeccable.
1. List three concerns that you face presently, personally or professionally. How do you see these concerns being resolved? For each item, write an optimistic description of how this might occur, and then take that description to heart. Lead yourself in that direction. Make the best possible result the one that actually happens!
2. List the names of three of the most cheerful people you know. Briefly describe an incident in which their cheerfulness was especially evident. Then make note of what you can learn from each, and how you can incorporate cheerfulness into at least two challenges that you are currently facing in your life.
3. In this chapter we spoke of Walt Disney. His creativity and resilience were remarkable. When have you behaved with admirable resilience?
4. What opportunities exist right now for you to exhibit the four traits of leadership mastery? What can you do today to move in this direction?