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Building leadership traits: It's harder than you think

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By BOB WEINSTEIN, Special Sections correspondent

Published: November 4, 2007

The books about leadership never stop coming. Dozens of them are published every year, and they must be selling because publishers keep churning them out.

Will Marre, co-founder of Covey Leadership Center in Encinitas, Calif., says that during the past 20 years, more has been written on leadership than in all of recorded history.

He may be right. Why is it such a hot and perpetually trendy subject? Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, most of us would like to be a leader. On any level, leaders are powerful people. Military leaders have changed the course of history; corporate leaders have spawned entire industries; and political leaders run our country — at least we hope so. Whether on a micro or a macro scale, leaders affect change.

Many theorists on the timeless subject are looking for that panacea formula that captures the essence of leadership. I doubt if it exists. Nevertheless, some of the newer theories are fascinating.

Marre, a leadership consultant to Fortune 500 companies and author "REALeadership (Thought Rocket Press)," contends that most of the leadership theories are about identifying traits, skills and abilities, functions and activities that leaders should have. "This formulaic approach to leadership is a failed idea," he says. To get a true idea of what leadership is about, he says we have to understand its three dimensions, which are character, competence and communication.

These dimensions fully reflect what leadership is all about, Marre insists — "character, what a leader is; the outer dimension, competence, what a leader does; and the chief tool of leadership, communication, what a leader says."

That sounds good. But words such as character, competence and communication are hard to pinpoint and objectively measure.

Then there are the no-nonsense leadership experts and coaches such as Joe Farcht, CEO of executive coaching firm The Leadership Advantage Inc. in Phoenix, and author of "Building Personal Leadership: Inspirational Tools & Techniques For Work & Life" (Morgan James Publishers).

Farcht, a former Navy fighter pilot who flew F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam, bases his leadership theories on a paramilitary model. It's a hard-headed approach based upon survival strategies — the very attributes military leaders need to build armies and chart strategies that win wars.

Military-style leadership isn't new, yet Farcht wields it within the context of the problems, issues and crises today's decision-makers face every day.

A great leader, says Farcht, is not a touchy-feely manager, spouting feel-good psychobabble clichés; he is a tough, resolute survivor who surrounds himself with managers who deliver the truth. In his lectures and speeches, the former fighter pilot religiously quotes Charles Darwin. One of Farcht's favorite Darwin quotes: "It is not the most intelligent of the species that survive the longest, it is the most adaptable."

People and organizations need to continually adapt to their environment. To make that happen, leaders must get information, or "feedback," as Farcht calls it. The more active and open the feedback loops, the better your chances of achieving goals.

Few leaders have truly open and honest feedback within their organization, asserts Farcht. The higher a leader climbs on the organization's ladder, the more likely he'll get diluted, less-than-candid feedback.

Leaders often are told what they want to hear. "Many subordinates and peers want to appear upbeat and optimistic, and do not want to be the ones to rock the boat by delivering negative information," says Farcht. "Whatever the motives, the result is a leader who only has partial information about what's going on around him."

Strong, confident leaders aggressively seek out the truth, and that often means negative feedback, Farcht says. "They understand they need a full range of information to perform better, whether it makes them comfortable or not."

How do they get it? By letting their subordinates know that they're open to criticism and won't tolerate "yes-men" lackeys.

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