GL Paper

Tim Skladzien
Global Leadership
Leadership Model
22 Nov 2015
Summaries
In Praise of the Incomplete Leader
Within today’s society, we expect a lot out of leaders. However, in this article we
learn that “no leader is perfect.” The best ones concentrate on honing their strengths and
find others who can make up for their limitations. A myth is that the flawless person is at
the top that has it all figured out. Furthermore, in today’s society the executive’s job is to
cultivate and co-ordinate the actions of others at all levels of the organization. Leaders
need to develop the capabilities they are weakest in by using four steps in a framework
for leadership: sense making, relating, creating a vision, and inventing.
Sense making is a continuous process by making sense of the world around us. We get
data from multiple sources such as customers, suppliers, employees, competitors, and
other departments and investors too. We then involve others to help create new ways to
articulate alternatives and better ways to understand options. The leader must be open to
new possibilities and not to think of the world and people in stereotypical ways. A key to
relating is to build relationships by spending time with others and encouraging them to
voice their opinions so the leader can hear those ideas rather than expressing his first.
Creating a vision is best done proactively to build a vision by asking oneself “what do I
want to create?” This must contain some type of enthusiasm to motivate others. However,
it is best to be open minded, not to worry if the vision is not accomplished. This is where
other people might be able to provide an alternative method. The use of images and
stories can help others to act. It is best to create new ways by doing rather than assuming
how to get the task done.
Essentially, the incompetent leader becomes gifted through the use of balancing the
four steps in a leadership framework and then able to create a balance in his organization.
Crucibles of Leadership
While the word crucible is a vessel or container, leaders can use their experiences
“stored” in their crucible to reflect on their values, question their assumptions, and
confirm their judgment. Good leaders grow over time. For example, businessman
Harman created “participative management’ that empowered his employees to influence
their workplace. As a leader, Harman conquered adversity; his workplace became
stronger, his workers became committed, and he was looked upon as an extraordinary
leader. Crucibles often take the form through prejudice, a basic dislike for others, and the
behaviors that make the environment pathetic in the workplace. While some crucibles
are extremely traumatic and occur over a span of time, others can be short and painful.
The key for a leader to overcoming the obstacles created by crucibles is the evaluation of

life-experiences and the acquiring of four skills: to engage others in shared meaning, to
have a distinctive and compelling voice, to hold a sense of integrity and strong values,
and to have an “adaptive capacity:” the ability to overcome adversity.
Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve
For 20 years, Jim Collins, a management expert at a high performance organization,
tried to understand how some companies were able to sustain superlative performance
while others failed. Walgreens, Scott, Abbott, and Chrysler were a few of the companies
Collins’ reviewed. The bottom line to success: have a level 5 leader, “an executive
whose genuine personal humility blends with intense professional will.” A Level 5
Hierarchy was identified with four additional levels cited; it is the level 5 leaders who
ultimately are able to transform a good company into a great one. When Collins was
asked the question if one could learn to become a level 5 leader, he still did not have the
answer. Level 5 leaders have personal humility: a compelling modesty, act with calm
determination, channel ambition into the company and not themselves, and accept the
“why” for success or failure. In addition, their professional will guides them to achieve
success. Yet, the capability to evolve into a level 5 leader can exist under the right
circumstances whether it is a life experience and self-reflection, loving parents or a
mentor. With these, the seed can develop toward a level 5 leader.
What Makes an Effective Executive?
The author, Drucker, starts out with a quote, “Great managers may be charismatic or
dull, generous or tightfisted, visionary, or numbers orientated. But every effective
executive follows eight simple practices.” Most of the leaders ranged from extroverted to
controlling, from generous to penny-pinching. But what made them effective is that fact
that they all followed the same eight practices: Asking what needs to be done and what is
right for the enterprise? They developed action plans, took responsibility for their
decisions and for communicating. They focused on opportunities rather than problems.
Having accountability, they ran productive meetings and thought “we” rather than “I.” In
addition, delegation is key for an effective executive: delegation of jobs where the
executive is not quite competent. Drucker adds a bonus practice for being an effective
executive: “Listen first, speak last.”
Discovering You Authentic Leadership
The authors of this article state, “we all have the capacity to inspire and empower
others. But we must first be willing to devote ourselves to our personal growth and
development as leaders.” Since the 1950’s, researchers have attempted to discover the
exact styles, characteristics, or personality traits of great leaders; there were no
conclusive profiles. It is said that authentic leaders demonstrate a passion for their
purpose, practice their values consistently, and lead with their hearts as well as their
heads. For example, a musician must realize his potential, implement the practice makes
perfect motto, and truly devote himself to a lifetime of developing himself. Self-
awareness, by far, is the most important capability to develop. The authors’ research
further identified that a person did not have to be born with specific characteristics or
traits of a leader: leadership, in turn, develops from one’s life story. Most leaders related

personal stories of negative experiences that have provided meaning to their lives and
served as a means to turn negatives into positives. Also identified was that authentic
leaders use formal and informal support systems to get honest feedback to keep them
grounded. In doing so, they need to be willing to listen to feedback, which might include
negative facts and/or opinions. Furthermore, an authentic leader, with a strong personal
life, has learned how to control stress to maintain his sense of equilibrium. The ultimate
satisfaction rewarded to an authentic leader is knowing that he has lead others to achieve
a worthy goal and most importantly, making the world a better place. An authentic
leadership delivers long-term results.
Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
When asked this question to a room of executives, author Robert Goffee comments
that the room falls quiet with silence. This scary feeling plagues executives, and
rightfully so, in their direction to discover their followers as well as how they need to
lead effectively in order to engage committed people in company goals. Inspirational
leaders excel at inspiring people by capturing their minds and souls. Yet, in order to be
truly inspirational, they need to possess ALL four of the following qualities: show their
weaknesses in order to expose their approachability and humanity, use intuition to judge
the timing and course of their actions, use “tough empathy” like the Marine Corps’:
“Grow or go,” and finally, dare to be different and use those differences to keep a social
distance. Executives often make the mistake of not understanding what makes an
inspirational leader by assuming everyone can be a leader, people who get to the top are
leaders, leaders deliver results, or leaders are great coaches. While there is no recipe that
can be followed to guarantee being a successful leader, it is important to adjust the
qualities seen in an inspirational leader and make a personal style that works for them.
“Be yourselves-more-with skill:” great advice, yet difficult to follow.
What Makes a Leader?
Daniel Goleman coined the phrase “emotional intelligence” as he studied the success
of business people. Emotional intelligence was identified as the necessary piece to
traditional leadership qualities and twice as important as technical skills and IQ. He
pointed out that emotional intelligence can be developed through nurturing as well as
learned from life’s experiences and increasing with age. Goleman studied the
relationships between emotional intelligence and effective performance and identified
how to recognize emotional intelligence in others (on the job) and within one’s self
through five components. First, those individuals with self-awareness have a deep
understating of their emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives while being
honest with themselves and others. Individuals understand their goal and are self-
directed. While seeking constructive criticism, their self-deprecating humor can provide
a comfort zone as they talk about their strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, self-
regulation boasts qualities to see a propensity for reflection and thoughtfulness, comfort
with ambiguity and change, and integrity-allowing one to say no to impulsive urges.
Thirdly, motivation is key for achievement. Leaders are identified because of their
passion, love for learning, take pride in a job well done, and display high energy to do
things better. Fourth, empathy is one of emotional intelligence’s more easily recognized
dimension. It is important as a component of leadership because of an increase in the use

of teams, the rapid pace of globalization, and the growing need to retain talent. Finally,
social skill is identified as friendliness with a purpose: moving people in the desired
direction. Socially skilled individuals do not limit the scope of their relationships, but
build bonds with those they might need help from one day. While having a credible IQ
and technical ability are important, it is emotional intelligence that completes the
definition for success.
The Work of Leadership
Heifetz and Laurie introduce the use of adaptive change in leadership; that change that
occurs when people and organizations are forced to make changes to an altered
environment. In turn, they challenge the understanding they have become accustomed to
in the work environment. Leadership challenges their followers to literally “go for the
gold”; to achieve the unreachable because their best just isn’t good enough. Adaptive
work is one of the toughest jobs for leaders in mobilizing their people to effect change.
While mobilizing an organization to adapt its behaviors is critical, providing good
leadership is very difficult. Executives must provide leadership in the form of solutions
and break previous behaviors while the people going through adaptive changes become
stressed and need to take on new roles and/or new approaches to their work.
Six principles for leading adaptive work have been identified. “Get on the Balcony”
prompts leaders to give employees a strong history of the past, the present situation, and
goals for the future of the company while explaining their responsibilities. ‘Identify the
Adaptive Challenge” necessitates the creation of trust throughout an organization.
Leaders need to understand not only themselves, but also their people and potential
sources of conflict. “Regulate Distress” is important in order to avoid an overwhelming
work environment, although eliminating stress completely removes the “push” for
employees for adaptive work. Therefore, leadership must achieve a balance among their
employees between feeling the need to change and being overwhelmed with making that
change happen. “Maintain Disciplined Attention” cites diversity within an organization
in terms of experiences, values, and beliefs. Yet through diversity, leadership needs to
maintain focus and attention to detail; disciplined attention becomes the “currency of
leadership.” “Give the Work Back to People” gives the employees the job to discover the
problem and the solution. In turn, a leader can develop self-confidence from the success
and experience expressed in the organization’s environment. Once at that point, the
leader can create the atmosphere for confidence in his employees. “Protect Voices of
Leadership from Below” simply states that authority figures should resist the urge to
express negativism in anyway.
What Leaders Really Do
Kotter states the following about leaders: “They don’t make plans; they don’t solve
problems; they don’t even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare
organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle through it.” He identifies
leadership as different from management, yet complementary, and in an ever-changing
world they both need to co-exist. On the other hand, management is all about coping with
complexity. It brings order and consistency to product quality and profitability. Kotter’s
stresses that managers promote stability while leaders promote change; change demands

more leadership. Organizations that promote both philosophies can survive and thrive in
a turbulent business environment.
Most successful U.S. corporations are over managed and under led. Yet, successful
corporations actively seek out people with leadership qualities and offer them the
experiences to develop their potential. Kotter cautions companies not to skew a strong
leadership with a weak management, rather balance a strong leadership with a strong
management. While the function of leadership is to produce change, the direction of that
change needs to be set by leadership. The direction of change needs to be set, whether
long or short term. No goal setting absorbs useless time and energy. Moving forward
with goal setting, modern organizations need to establish interdependence where no one
individual has complete autonomy. Nonetheless, aligning and credibility are challenges in
leadership efforts while being able to communicate with many individuals as possible and
for getting people to believe their message. Good leaders are accountable for motivating
and inspiring people in many ways by satisfying the basic human needs for achievement,
self-esteem, and recognition.
Transformations of Leadership
Through research, Rooke and Torbert discovered that most developmental
psychologists agree that internal “action logic” or how leaders interpret their
surroundings and react when their power is challenged. Using their Leadership
Development Profile, they were able to categorize leaders into seven developmental
action logics. The Opportunist was characterized by mistrust, being egocentric, and
manipulative. Thankfully, only 5% of the leaders in the sample exhibited a cutthroat
bully tactic; few remain in leadership positions for long, unless they become more
effective action logics. The Diplomat is over polite and friendly, and avoids confrontation
at the expense of becoming a threat to his own job security. The Experts make up the
largest group of professionals sample are identified as those who try to exercise control
by perfecting their knowledge, both personally and professionally. As managers,
however, they can be problematic managers who foster a “my way or the highway a
approach.” The Achievers matched similar total numbers to the experts and were
identified as those who could create a positive work environment. Conversely, they
seldom think outside the box. This creates a clashing with the Experts, and at the same
time promotes competitiveness and success. The Individualist does not recognize that
action logics are natural, and work to put personalities and ways of relating into
perspective. Rules they interpret as irrelevant are ignored that create irritation for
coworkers and bosses. Joining in the Individualist with low results is the Strategist who
creates shared visions and is able to discuss an organization and perceptions. They deal
with conflict more comfortably than other action logics and as a result, they have a high
success rate for change. Strategists work to create ethical principles and practices above
and beyond their own interests. The last action logic survey was identified as the
Alchemist who is known to renew and reinvent themselves in ways that their
organizations can find historical significance. He can multi-task and talk to people of all
work levels while working on immediate priorities and keeping the long-term goals in his
vision. The most encouraging fact from Rooke and Torbert’s research is that leaders can
move from one action logic to another as the situation avails itself. The most effective in

leadership teams is the Strategist: a group that sees business challenges as opportunities
for growth and learning for both individuals and the organization.

Leadership Model
A leader is a person who puts himself “front and center” and accepts a challenge in an
organization, company, country, or state(s). He is responsible for setting rules and
guidelines in order for those rules to be carried out appropriately. Being a leader stems
from social influence: he does not need to be told directly what to do. Leadership models
identify a vision to explain why others should commit to the leader.
My leadership model outlines those processes that define me as a leader. I have
identified five components: balance, realism, respect, communication, and creativity as
my core. In Level 5 Leadership, Collins makes reference to individuals, like myself, in
the Level 5 Hierarchy. Although my professional experiences are limited, my personal
experiences define me as one who could be a level five executive. In my leadership
model, making a commitment to Balance is reflected in my professional will to do a job
well while manifesting humility. I could respectfully relate to my employees and work
towards common goals. During my Eagle Scout project, I was responsible for the total
co-ordination of building a shed: from recruitment of funds and materials for completion
to recruiting the manpower to get the job done. During that time, I was not only
challenged by the huge task, but also by people who questioned my ability. Their
“doubting Thomas” attitude was because I was shy, but in my opinion, humble. I was
willful in accomplishing a task. The process required tons of listening on my part.
Conversely, Drucker highlights the action of effective executives to what happened at the
end of the project: I spoke last; it was an overwhelming success.

George et al, Discovering Your Authentic Leadership, relates to the “journey” in my
life as I have identified Realism in my leadership perspective. Challenges greeted me
throughout my early years whether they were in sports, academics, or achieving
leadership positions in scouts. The challenge to understand myself well enough to be
able to use my leadership gifts to work with others was key; I took those challenges
seriously. In order for me to discover my authentic leadership, I made the commitment to
realize my potential and develop myself. Goleman references this as emotional
intelligence. Through those and other life experiences, and a special family who nurtured
me through tough times, my experiences with diversity have allowed me to create a
credible vision in a positive direction that have become part of my model.
Experiences with a job at a Media company solidified Respect as the third value in
my leadership model. I was the CEO’s right hand man when it came to hiring people to
contribute on the website. My official title was “Hiring Manager and Content
Contributor. “ While I performed my job well, I was aware that the CEO treated
employees poorly. In general, he did not communicate his expectations clearly. His rants
toward the staff, as well as his leadership tactics, were unprofessional. Employees left
their positions and at the point when all staff quit, he shut down the company. Rooke and
Torbert, Transformations of Leadership, would identify him as “the Opportunist:” one
who focuses on personal wins and is characterized by mistrust, egocentrism, and
manipulativeness. On the other hand, I, as “the Diplomat” sought out a solution. The
staff enjoyed working with me and expressed their trust in me. I used them as
reinforcements and called on their abilities to get a job done. Together, with our

collective talents and respect for one another, we launched a new media site:
bearscoopmedia.com.
That experience at the media company only reinforced the next value in my leadership
model: Communication. Goffee and Jones,” Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?”
addresses inspiring people by capturing their hearts, minds, and souls. They say these
qualities are not the “end-all” in a business, but personally, I could not see working
anywhere without incorporating these goals into my style of leadership. I have always
looked to communication as an art; an art that allows people to engage in dialogue. When
that engagement starts with those in leadership, then it is only natural for excitement to in
the company to soar and goal setting among employees to evolve. Additionally,
communication allowed me to hear out the staff while sharing what was unique and
different about the qualities I have that could bring a new media site to fruition.
The fifth value of my leadership model is Creativity. Ancona et al,” In Praise of the
Incompetent Leader,” identifies a framework of four capabilities while I would
generically make reference to creativity. Establishing new practice, paying attention to
detail, and including others in plans all offer a novel approach for ever-changing
strategies to be developed and put into action. Ancona’s “vision” would be a huge
attribute for creativity. Individuals like myself never stop trying to work a job well or to
become qualified for a job. Being creative allows me to be that leader with unique
personality traits who could address the goals of a company.
While the five values cited in my leadership model are addressed in numerical order,
they do not take precedent over each other and bear equal weight. The values of my

leadership model reflect the core of my approach in working with others. I see
opportunities for refinement by learning from my mistakes and developing my emotional
intelligence. Being more of a glass “have full” type of guy, rather than a “glass half
empty,” I am comforted in knowing that great things do happen to those who have a great
degree of self-awareness and attack their work with energy.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tim Skladzien’s Leadership Model
Communication
-engage in dialogue to
foster excitement
toward goals
Balance
-relate with emotion
-show respect
-challenge ideas
- work towards
common goals
Realistic
-share direction
- include diversity
-create a credible vision
Creativity
-establish new practice
-pay attention to detail
-include others in
plans
Respect
-trust
- seek network of
others who have the
ability to get a job done

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